Sexual Assault Trials Handbook — The dynamics of child sexual abuse

R McElvaney, “Disclosure of child sexual abuse: delays, non-disclosure and partial disclosure. What the research tells us and implications for practice” (2015) 24(3) Child Abuse Online Review 159.

This review looks at delays in disclosing, non-disclosure, and partial disclosure of child sexual abuse. The prevalence of delays and non-disclosure is revealed by large-scale national probability studies. Smaller qualitative studies show the complexity of individual experiences. Understanding why children are reluctant to disclose their experiences is important for child protection, legal and therapeutic professionals. Dynamics of disclosure, such as young people’s need to maintain control over the process, the role of peers, adults’ responses and opportunities for disclosure, must be understood in order to help young people disclose their experiences sooner.