Our society resonates with the negative health effects of sexual violence and abuse: obesity, depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, increased alcohol and drug use, plus an increased likelihood of committing a sexual offense, have all been documented effects of sexual abuse on society (Irish et al., 2010, Casey et al., 2009, Perry et al, 1995).
An astounding estimated 1 in 4 females and 1 in 6 males in the United States will experience sexual abuse before the age of 18 and will likely experience many of the above negative health effects as a result (Finkelhor et al., 1990). Sadly, many children are experiencing this abuse at the hands of trusted professionals. This webpage examines child sexual abuse in K-12 schools.
April 2011 Archives
Shakeshaft (2003) found that 9.6 percent of students in a national survey reported experiencing educator sexual abuse (of contact and non-contact types) at some point in their previous k-12 school years. Data suggest more female perpetrators (42.8% compared to 57.2% male) than is commonly assumed (Educator Sexual Misconduct, 2004). The same report also summarizes evidence that 28.3% of this sexual abuse is same-sex abuse (15.2% male-male and 13.1% female-female). Further illuminating the issue of sexual abuse in schools, the table below summarizes Shakeshaft's findings of rates of offense by professional position.
Percent of Student Targets.pdf
The precise wording of questions matters in gathering accurate data about the occurrence of sexual abuse: the reason being that popular definitions of sexual abuse often don't account for the range of experiences of sexual abuse. The rates of sexual abuse determined by research studies and reports are generally understood to be underestimates, given that it's difficult to gather complete data on the issue.
In order to report having experienced sexual abuse, a child has to know/understand/remember that they experienced it, has to feel safe enough to report it, the survey questions have to be age-appropriate, and perhaps, most importantly, the questions have to be descriptively worded in such a way that the child can say "yes I was touched this way" rather than having to say "yes I was sexually molested". For this reason, the data below on trends and rates must be viewed critically. For example, males might have a lower reported rate of experiences of sexual abuse not because they experience sexual abuse at a lower rate, but because it's generally less safe, less normalized, and more stigmatized for males to report being sexually abused.
Lack of regular data collection specifically on sexual abuse in schools makes it impossible to explore trends over time. There is evidence that sexual abuse of children in general (though not necessarily in the school setting) has had a decreasing trend over the past two decades (Finkelhor & Jones, 2004). However, this decline only measures reported and substantiated cases, so there is no evidence that the level of unreported sexual abuse has declined. Hypothesized reasons for this decline in substantiated reported cases include: better violence and maltreatment prevention, increased incarceration and conviction of offenders, improved mental health and trauma treatment, changes in economy and culture. Studies find that prevalence of sexual abuse has decreased slightly, but incidence is what has seen greater decreases (Chaffin & Jones, 2011).
American Indian Boarding Schools
In addition to examining trends, studying the history of child sexual abuse in this country provides insight into the ways in which the U.S. has consistently allowed its youth to be abused by school staff. Looking historically at the existence of sexual abuse in schools over time, government-sanctioned boarding schools for Native American children is an example of the type of context in which sexual abuse was and still is rampant- institutions where adults have unquestioned authority over children, particularly vulnerable children such as Native American youth.
In her book, Conquest- Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide, Andrea Smith (2005) describes numerous cases where staff abused hundreds of children, yet the Bureau of Indian Affairs didn't release a policy on school officials reporting sexual abuse until 1987, 100 years after the boarding school system became formalized. In 2003 a class action suit (Zephier v. United States) was filed against the U.S. government on behalf of those who were sexually, physically, or mentally abused in Indian Boarding Schools that were under the authority of the BIA. The Federal Court of Claims dismissed the case in 2004, leaving the issue of child sexual abuse in schools un-questioned.
The story of how nearly 80% of a small Native American Alaskan town's children were allowed by Catholic clergy to be sexually abused in church and in school over the course of a century is a blaring example of the population-level abuses that were wrought upon Native Americans. What's more, these are many of the same conditions which often surround the unquestioned occurrence of sexual abuse in institutions today. The 3-part documentary can be viewed for free through PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-silence/
Exposures/variables and risk factors for school professionals sexually abusing children:
• Sex: As was detailed earlier, while male staff committed higher amounts of reported sexual offenses (57.2%), the percent of reported staff offenders who were female is higher than most would assume (42.8%).
• Position/Title: The table above summarized evidence from a study that provides insight into who's committing the sexual abuse: teachers committed 18% of reported offenses, followed by coaches who committed 15%, and substitute teachers who committed 12%.
• Work Location Chosen: Research on school staff who commit sexual offenses provides evidence that, in elementary schools, these are often the staff (usually the teachers) who the community and school view as the most popular, excellent and award-worthy educators (Shakeshaft, 2003). One reason for this might be that these educators work to build up a perfect façade/reputation in order to create a safe climate for themselves to start abusing children - an environment where other staff, parents, and students trust them completely, and where allegations against them of sexual abuse are unlikely to be believed (Shakeshaft and Cohan, 1994). Research by Shakeshaft (2003) suggests sexual abuse by staff in middle and high schools might initially be somewhat less pre-meditated and more opportunistic.
• Process Used: Robins (2000) suggests that the process of grooming is often used by sexual abusers (rather than initial overt force) because this decreases the likelihood the child will report the abuse to others.
Exposures/variables and risk factors for children being sexually abused in schools:
Race/ethnicity and sex: Data suggest females of color (particularly females of African descent, Latinas, and female American Indians) are at greater risk of experiencing sexual abuse than are white females (See table below: Shakeshaft, 2003). The table attached below details victims based on race.
Targets by Race.pdf
Disabilities: Data on child sexual abuse in general suggests much higher rates of sexual abuse for children with disabilities, though research needs to be done to confirm this finding in school settings specifically (Educator Sexual Misconduct, 2004). The table attached below details rates in institutional settings in general.
Sexual Abuse Reports by Disability Status.pdf
All children represent a vulnerable population, particularly in the setting of institutions such as schools, where adult staff are the ones who have all the power and are assumed to be benevolent. Research suggests that children who are perceived as more marginalized, less connected to their parents and peers, engaged in risky behavior or have parents who are commonly engaged in risky behavior, and are more unsure of themselves are at greater risk of being targeted by staff for sexual abuse (Robins, 2000; Shakeshaft and Cohan, 1994). These children might be more likely to respond positively to initial friendly grooming attempts and might be less likely to report the abuse. Additionally, children with disabilities and young females of color are often the least likely to receive justice in society for abuses; for this reason they might be seen by staff as being more vulnerable and thus more abuse-able without consequences.
Exposures/variables and risk factors for schools having high rates of professionals sexually abusing children
Research by the U.S. Department of Education (Educator Sexual Misconduct, 2004, pp. 34 - 36) found nine articles examining patterns seen in schools where sexual abuse has been reported. Because the data are not from randomized control studies published in peer-reviewed journals, caution must be made in interpreting the findings. However, until more research is done these studies provide a starting point for understanding the environments in which sexual abuse is occurring:
-Settings where students are not able/taught/encouraged to tell school officials about sexual abuse, be it physical, verbal, visual, etc.
-Students who do report sexual abuse in the school are disbelieved by school staff and school officials. Additionally, such students are often disbelieved and outcast by classmates. Other children see and this are influenced to not report their own experiences of abuse.
-School officials/staff who are told about the incident see it as being non-sexual (innocent pat on the back, innocent compliment about body, etc.), or see it as being bad judgment on the part of the accused staff member, but nothing warranting more than a warning or a long talk. This can occur even when the child and the staff member's story of what happened are the same; the difference is in the meaning attributed to the incident by school staff compared to the child's experience of the incident. The offending staff member often conveys a façade of innocence, and the child's point of view gets discounted.
-No formal investigations occur in response to reports of abuse, neither by the school nor by law enforcement. Incidents are not reported to law enforcement
-No action is taken to let go/remove the staff member, or to achieve justice, safety, and healing for the student. If the staff member is fired/let go, often no action is taken to help the student heal
Exposures/variables and risk factors for states/countries having high rates of child sexual abuse in schools (Educator Sexual Misconduct, 2004, pp. 39)
-Lack of liability to schools for damages caused to a student by a school staff member, particularly from sexual harassment and other non-physical forms of sexual abuse which are less often rewarded compensation
-States have varying ages of consent whereby some educators can legally engage in "consensual" sexual conduct with students who are of that age of consent or older
-Schools sometimes do confidential settlements with alleged abusers to keep it out of the courts and the news, preventing the child from getting justice and allowing the abuser to move to a different city and work at a new school. Similarly, judges sometimes impose settlements that let the staff member off easy and ignore the protection of children from future harm.
-The staff member and the school don't usually face legal consequences for failing to report the abuse to future institutions where the staff member is seeking work and to the state-licensing agency.
-States fail to collect annual data on educator sexual misconduct in schools
-The U.S. fails to have a national clearinghouse of data on educator sexual misconduct
-Many schools don't adequately perform background checks and regular interim employment career checks on school employees. Additionally, when hiring new school staff, schools often don't do check extensively enough (beyond a background check) into the individual's history by calling past employers, etc.
While there are no official estimates of the costs related specifically to sexual abuse in schools, Wang and Holton (2007) estimated the annual costs of child abuse and neglect in the U.S.
Direct Costs
• Hospitalization: $6.6 billion
• Mental Health Care System: $1 billion
• Child Welfare Services System: $25.3 billion
• Law Enforcement: $33.3 million
Indirect Costs
• Special Education: $2.5 billion
• Juvenile Delinquency: $7 billion
• Mental Health and Health Care: $67.8 million
• Adult Criminal Justice System: $27.9 billion
• Lost Productivity to Society: $33 billion
The sum of these costs is a total of $103.7 billion. The cost of sexual abuse in schools is some unknown fraction of this total. A few studies have looked at direct legal costs to schools. For example, between 1996 and 2001 in New York City public schools, approximately 18.7 million dollars was awarded to children who were sexually abused by educators (Campanile and Montero, 2001). While these studies leave the total cost largely unknown, they provide some idea that the costs are far-reaching (lost productivity to society, etc.) and likely in the billions of dollars.
A. Over-focus on the victim-perpetrator dichotomy, rather than on what bystanders, institutions, etc. can do to prevent and intervene in sexual abuse
B. Over-emphasis on teaching children good touch/bad touch as the main way to prevent abuse
C. Hopelessness, fear, stigma, etc. associated with child sexual abuse
D. Myth of the "stranger in the bushes" as the most common perpetrator
E. Unquestioned trust/respect of professionals and clergy who work with children
F. Societal hypersexualization of males and sexual objectification/utilization/subjugation of females, including creating vulnerable populations who are seen as inherently rape-able, societally unpowerful, and unlikely to win justice for the crime (children of color, LGBTQ youth, children with disabilities, younger children, children in juvenile detention centers, poor children, immigrant children, etc.)
G. Little focus on the rights of children, over-focus on the rights of power structures (churches, etc.)
H. Over-focus on intervention rather than prevention
I. Lack of an effective way to achieve justice for victims (overemphasis on locking people up)
J. Fear and misinformation about "sex offenders"
K. Belief that children often make false accusations
- Consistent documentation of the problem- prevalence, incidence, trends, rates, etc.
- Breakdown of types of offense by sex of offender (e.g. are male staff more likely to commit rape than female staff, are female staff more likely to engage in 'consensual' sexual abuse with adolescent males, etc.)
- When looking at rates per staff type (teacher, bus driver, paraprofessional, etc.), control for the amount of time that staff type generally spends with students
- Qualitative research examining the complex contextual factors involved in situations where teachers abuse, where coaches abuse, etc. "What contextual factors contributed to the abuse occurring?"
- Compare abuse in elementary versus middle versus high schools- what similarities and differences are seen between staff, contexts, etc.
- Closely examine why children with disabilities and females of color are at greatest risk
- Qualitative research on how/when grooming occurs in schools (Robins, 2000)
- Estimate the direct and indirect costs of sexual abuse in schools
- Qualitative research on how/when grooming occurs in schools (Robins, 2000)
- Closely examine why children with disabilities and females of color are at greatest risk
- Compare abuse in elementary versus middle versus high schools- what similarities and differences are seen between staff, contexts, etc.
- Qualitative research examining the complex contextual factors involved in situations where teachers abuse, where coaches abuse, etc. "What contextual factors contributed to the abuse occurring?"
- When looking at rates per staff type (teacher, bus driver, paraprofessional, etc.), control for the amount of time that staff type generally spends with students
- Breakdown of types of offense by sex of offender (e.g. are male staff more likely to commit rape than female staff, are female staff more likely to engage in 'consensual' sexual abuse with adolescent males, etc.)
1. To prevent the creation of the hazard in the first place
Focus on child development and early intervention, societal norms change, reducing systems of oppression and privilege, family-level change, etc.
2. To reduce the amount of the hazard brought into being
Screening and selecting employees and volunteers, including psychological screening. Training for staff and students on child sexual abuse. Protocol and school policy of how to prevent and intervene in child sexual abuse.
3. To prevent the release of the hazard that already exists
Guidelines on interactions between individuals; ensuring safe environments; monitoring behavior; responding to breaches in policy; training about child sexual abuse prevention; training students about the touch continuum and what to do when abuse occurs to them or a peer; screening and selecting employees and volunteers. Changes in physical environment such as surveillance equipment, monitors, well-lit areas, no hidden/private areas, restroom monitors.
4. To modify the rate or spatial distribution of release of the hazard from its source
Protocol on allowable physical closeness with students (hugs, pats, etc)
5. To separate, in time or in space, the hazard and that which is to be protected
Protocol and enforcement of not allowing educators to have alone time with a student
6. To separate the hazard and that which is to be protected by interposition of a material barrier
Early intervention, removal of educator
7. To modify relevant basic qualities of the hazard
Educator training on where they can get help if they have sexual thoughts about children, than change is possible/that there is hope for change, adults offer support and hope to the perpetrator, that child sexual abuse is wrong and harmful.
8. To make that to be protected more resistant to damage from the hazard
Build supportive home environments; support parents; build a restorative school culture that responds to injustice in a healing and victim-centered way
9. To begin to counter damage already done by the environmental hazard
Respond quickly and effectively to inappropriate and/or abusive behavior, allegations, and suspicions of abusive behavior. Support parents of abused students; offer hope to the family and student. Believe the child. Provide counseling and psychological support to the child.
10. To stabilize, repair, and rehabilitate the object of the damage
Provide counseling and psychological support to the child and the family. Focus on healing methods for the child- art, writing, medicine, therapy, etc. Use restorative school processes to address the harm done in the school setting.
Given that the abuse is occurring in an institutional setting, one of the most promising approaches related to child sexual abuse is for school administrators to have policies, training, rules, etc., that (Audage, 2007):
1. reduce the number of new hires who have histories of sexually abusing children
2. make school a space where it's very difficult for staff to abuse children in the first place
3. make it highly likely staff will get caught and removed from school if they do sexually abuse students
Additionally, school/family/community response must involve providing emotional, psychological, medical, etc. support to the child who has been abused. Often the child's needs are forgotten in the aftermath of sexual abuse. Yet the child is the main person who was harmed by the experience and who is in need of justice, healing, and support.
Finally, primary prevention must always be kept in focus, as the factors that contribute to people sexually abusing children are also correlated with many other negative outcomes and costs on society. As we attempt to reduce the sexual abuse of children we must remember the violence and rape upon which this country was founded, the subsequent abuse of children in Indian Boarding Schools, etc. This history reminds us that in order to effectively prevent child sexual abuse in schools, on a larger level we need societal norms change and a reduction in systems of oppression and privilege.
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