Sexual Abuse and Sexual Function

Awareness of child sexual abuse emerged along with the gaining of civil rights for children [Kempe (Child Abuse Negl 1:511–513, 1977; Child Abuse Negl 2:261–267, 1978)]. In 1975, enough clinicians, mental health providers, and policy makers became aware of the alarmingly high rates of childhood abuse and neglect for an international conference on this topic to convene. Scholars were particularly concerned to learn that many mental health patients experienced sexual abuse, defined as forced and often traumatic sexual experiences, prior to age 16, a developmental time when the individual is still forming a sense of the sexual self [Besharov (Child Abuse Negl 1:173–177, 1977)]. The initial clinical observations of the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and negative psychiatric health have been confirmed by carefully executed epidemiological studies. At the present time, scholars agree that approximately 20 % of women in the USA have experienced a forced or coerced sexual experience prior to age 16 and 10 % of men have experienced a forced sexual experience at some point in their lives [Testa et al. (J Consult Clin Psychol 75:52–60, 2007)].