Society's view of child sex abuser 'stereotypes' stuck in the past, says One in Four report

One in Four said offender types have “change markedly” over time – away from family members or people in authority to friends and romantic partners, who are also young. File picture

“Stereotypes” that people have of the types of individuals who sexually abuse children are preventing society from seeing the “variety” of offenders out there, a charity has warned.

One in Four said offender types have “change markedly” over time – away from family members or people in authority to friends and romantic partners, who are also young.

Publishing a new report, the therapeutic organisation pointed out that a landmark study by the CSO in 2022 found significant differences among adults, depending on their ages, who had been sexually abused as children.

Among those aged 18-24 the majority of offenders included “friends and romantic partners” who were also likely to be young people.

In contrast, for those aged over 55, the majority of offenders were either family, neighbours or people in position of authority.

The research, conducted by social psychologist Karen Hand, spoke to a range of experts and survivors and also involved a nationally representative survey of over 1,000 people.

When people were asked from a list, which categories of person would be most likely to commit child sexual violence, the survey found:

• 48% said a family member/relative 
• 11% said a person in authority 
• 5% said a stranger 
• 4% said a current or former partner 
• 4% said a friend or acquaintance 

The report said: “‘Stereo-types’ of child abusers prevent us from seeing the variety of offender types.” 

The study, entitled Irish Attitudes to Tackling Child Sexual Abuse, found that 39% of respondents said they knew someone who had been sexually abused as a child.

Some 17% said they weren’t sure, with 44% replying they did not know anyone.

One male survivor and local expert told researchers about his abuser: “He was our cousin and he lived next door and worked on my dad’s farm and he was abusing me and my two younger sisters for years - even when my first sister spoke up, I still said nothing… until I ended up in therapy with a gambling addiction and depression and it all came out.” 

A young female survivor said: “Who’s going to tell their mam at 14, that there’s this boy is after doing this to me or I’m dating this boy and he raped me - or I was walking home and this boy dragged me into a bush, like there’s a big stigma about it.” 

A number of young male survivors commented on external pressures on boys. 

One said: 

Young men - my age - are being drawn into the ‘manosphere’, ‘looksmaxing’, going to the gym, listening to Andrew Tate – it can really alienate you from girls - I found it really damaging when I was with my ex-girlfriend. 

A second young male survivor said: “Boys have a lot of poor role models. There’s nothing to stop them getting really, really bad habits and perceptions of women, their peers and specifically point out guys. There’s nothing in place in school to tell you this is how you deal with consent, this is how you approach consent.”

One expert said sexual violence on a child had a profound impact: "It really leaves a deep impression on the brain, the soul, and the heart."