Sexual-Abuse Cycle Can Be Broken, Experts Assert

This information suggests that child sexual abuse is an “an early onset disorder,” but one that does have markers that could be exploited for prevention, Ms. Harlow said at the meeting, which was sponsored by the University of Colorado.

Other relevant presentations at the meeting included two from representatives of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those officials noted that the CDC is actively working to improve some of the science about sexual abuse and abusers, to help design effective prevention efforts. And they described a dearth of information on sexual abuse, and the psychology behind it, despite an abundance of theories.

Presently, most studies of sexual abusers are limited case-control studies and none has followed the individuals for very long, said Daniel J. Whitaker, Ph.D., a behavioral scientist with the division of violence prevention at the CDC, who recently conducted a metaanalysis of the studies that have looked at the psychological profile of sexual abusers of children compared with other individuals.

Others were more optimistic about what could be achieved, right now, in the absence of a full understanding of the factors that contribute to child sexual abuse.

“People feel like we do not have any control over [sexual abuse], but we actually have a lot of control over this,” Ms. Harlow said.

This billboard in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area is credited with doubling the number of calls that an existing confidential helpline received each month. Courtesy Stop It Now! Minnesota