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Child Sexual Assault

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Encyclopedia of Sexuality and Gender

The World Health Organization (1999) defines child sexual assault as the involvement of a child in sexual activity that he or she does not fully comprehend; is unable to give informed consent for, for which the child is not developmentally prepared and cannot give consent; or violates the laws or social taboos of society. Specifically, the expression “sexual assault” refers to a series of unwanted sexual behaviors, activities, or contact – including penetration – to which an individual does not or cannot give his or her consent (e.g., the victim is underage or under the influence of drugs). Sexual assault also involves the use or threat of physical strength and can affect individuals of all ages, both male and female. When sexual assault involves a child, we refer to it as child sexual assault, and it is considered a serious form of child maltreatment and abuse. Often, the term sexual assault is used instead as a term that encompasses and describes many situations such as rape, child...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Human and Social Science, “Kore” University of Enna, Enna, Italy

    Giulio D’Urso & Ugo Pace

  2. Accademia di Psicologia Sociale e Giuridica, Rome, Italy

    Irene Petruccelli

Authors
  1. Giulio D’Urso
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  2. Irene Petruccelli
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  3. Ugo Pace
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Correspondence to Giulio D’Urso .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of New England Department of Psychology, Armidale, NSW, Australia

    Amy D. Lykins

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D’Urso, G., Petruccelli, I., Pace, U. (2019). Child Sexual Assault. In: Lykins, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sexuality and Gender. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59531-3_28-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59531-3_28-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-59531-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-59531-3

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