Reports of Child Sexual Abuse

Data presented by Prevent Child Abuse America in their Annual Fifty State Survey indicate that reports of child sexual abuse appear to be decreasing at a pace equal to, if not greater than, that of the decline in substantiated cases. The Annual Fifty State Survey (Wang and Daro, 1998) estimated that there were 223,000 reports of child sexual abuse in 1997 (figure 4). This is an overall decline of 48 percent since 1991. The most recent estimated numbers from 1998 (Wang and Harding, 1999) show an increase in reports over 1997 but still represent an overall decline of 26 percent since the 1991 peak.³

Comparing trends in child sexual abuse reports with trends in substantiated cases is important to a better understanding of the causes of the decline in child sexual abuse. The decline in reports suggests that the drop in substantiated cases is at least partly the result of fewer reports of child sexual abuse reaching CPS agencies. Therefore, any complete understanding of the causes must include a consideration that either there are fewer actual incidents of child sexual abuse available to be reported or changes have occurred in reporting behavior for this crime.

The Decline in Child Sexual Abuse Cases	Juvenile Justice Bulletin •January 2001