Do Race, Ethnicity, and Culture Shape the Experience and Disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse?

It is important to consider the potential effects of race, ethnicity, and culture (REC) on how children experience and disclose childhood sexual abuse, and how their disclosures are received by caregivers and state institutions. This chapter reviews the evidence for differences in rates of childhood sexual abuse across REC groups and for how and why children from different REC groups disclose childhood sexual abuse. Findings suggest that, while REC may not influence abuse or disclosure characteristics directly, REC are related to a number of factors that can alter children’s motivation to disclose, their willingness to provide detailed accounts in interviews, and how others react to their disclosures. This chapter highlights the importance of REC sensitivity in relation to childhood sexual abuse for professionals and lay persons, including teachers, lawyers, and child welfare staff who work with victimized children, to whom children may disclose and who must at times evaluate those disclosures.