title: Sexual victimization in Norwegian children and adolescents: victims, offenders, assaults.
abstract: A random sample of 465 Norwegian adolescents (mean age 19.3 years) from the general population answered a questionnaire related to sexual victimization. 17.2% of the girls reported being sexually assaulted, 6.8% in childhood and 10.4% during their teens. Only 0.9% of the boys reported such experiences. Three patterns of victimization were identified: (1) Prepubertal girls abused by adult men, usually relatives or other trusted superiors. (2) Adolescent girls victimized by their boyfriends, other peers and-to a lesser degree-unknown persons. (3) A small group of girls reporting continual assaults by several offenders. By the end of their teens, it is assumed that 2.8% of the girls have experienced 'grave' and prolonged sexual abuse, which invariably started during childhood. Another 7.6% have experienced 'serious' assaults, either in childhood or in adolescence.
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Youth Research Centre, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*