Your kid's Safety Circle should learn a few key statistics to help them get over any preconceived ideas of who *suffers* CSA, who *commits* CSA, and the likelihood that a disclosure is true.
What's the prevalence?
1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men suffer CSA. Of those, 1 in 3 suffer CSA before the age of 12.
This should tell the adult's in your safety circle that unfortunately *any* child may be a victim of CSA. They can't discount abuse because of how a child acts, how their family appears, etc.
Who offends?
An estimated:
* 3 in 10 are family members
* 6 in 10 are acquaintances
* Just 1 in 10 are strangers
* 4 in 10 are older children
Offenders are not the sketchy looking stranger in the white van. The Safety Circle needs to know these numbers so they don't ignore grooming signs from a person because "they're so nice" or "they've known the family for years" or "they're part of the family". It's also critical to understand that older or more powerful children commit 40% of CSA, so they need to be aware of any warning signs between children as well.
How often are false reports made?
Not often. Only about 4-8% of reports are false, and those are often from adults not children.
This is one of many reasons why people in the Safety Circle must *believe* the child if the child reports to them.