Is sexual abuse of children with disabilities disclosed? A retrospective analysis of child disability and the likelihood of sexual abuse among those attending Norwegian hospitals

Objective: According to North American studies disabled children are at 2-3 times greater risk of being sexually abused than non-disabled. If the risk ratio for disabled children in Norway is similar, and the disclosure of sexual abuse is the same for disabled as for non-disabled, one should expect disabled children to constitute 2-3 times the 11% they constitute in the general population. This research aimed to investigate if this is the case for Norwegian children, and to find characteristics within in the handicapped group suspected of being sexually assaulted. Method: A questionnaire was addressed to all Norwegian pediatric hospitals. Of interest were numbers of children having a medical examination for possible sexual assault in the years 1994-1996, the number with a smaller or severe disability, a description of the disability, age and gender, and the conclusion of the examination as to the likelihood of sexual abuse. Results: The severely disabled children constituted only 1.7% of the examined 1293 children. Altogether, 6.4% of the children had a smaller or severe disability. These children were more often assessed as "probably assaulted" than the non-disabled. The disabled group had a larger part of boys than the non-disabled group. Conclusions: Children with disabilities make up a smaller part of children coming to pediatric hospitals with the suspicion of being sexually abused than expected. The results indicate that when a child has a severe disability, the caretakers do not seem to recognize it as sexual abuse before it is quite obvious. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd.