Abuse, research

ABC.net, Australia, Indian study reveals widespread child abuse; April 9, 2007 
Two out of three of the 12,446 respondents between the ages of five and 18 had been physically abused, which included slapping, kicking or beating with a stick, the study said, in most cases by parents or teachers. 
More than 50 per cent had been sexually abused in ways that ranged from severe, such as rape or fondling, to milder forms of molestation that included forcible kissing. 
The study also interviewed 2,324 young adults between the ages of 18 and 24, almost half of whom reported being physically or sexually abused as children. 
A fifth of the child respondents had experienced severe sexual abuse, the study said, and in almost 80 per cent of the cases the abuser was a person well known by the child.

Anda, Robert F., [... & others], Abused Boys, Battered Mothers, and Male Involvement in Teen Pregnancy, ELECTRONIC ARTICLE in: PEDIATRICS Vol. 107 No. 2 February 2001, p. e19

Arreola, Sonya, Torsten Neilands, Lance Pollack, Jay Paul & Joseph Catania, Childhood sexual experiences and adult health sequelae among gay and bisexual men: defining childhood sexual abuse - Journal of Sex Research, July-Sept, 2008 

[...] There was no difference between the consensual sex group and those who had no sex before age 18. The level of well-being was significantly higher for the consensual group compared with the 'no sex before 18' group and the forced sex group. The latter two groups did not differ from each other on well-being.
[...]
[...] the consensual sex group was significantly more likely to have a higher level of well-being than either of the other two groups. 
This suggests that consensual sex before 18 years of age may have a positive effect, perhaps as an adaptive milestone of adolescent sexual development. 
[...]
The implications of these findings recommend that research move toward a more mature understanding of childhood sexual experiences that includes the subjective experience of childhood sex. [...]

Baurmann, Michael C., Sexuality, Violence and Psychological After-Effects, A longitudinal study of cases of sexual assault which are reported to the police; English Summary on pages 523-533 of 'Sexualität, Gewalt und psychische Folgen: Eine Längschnittuntersuchung bei Opfern sexueller Gewalt un sexuellen Norm-verletzungen anhand von angezeigten Sexualkontakten (Wiesbaden, Bundeskriminalamt Forschungsreihe Nr. 15, 1983)'.
To recapitulate, only half of the declared victims (51.8%) of indecent assault suffered from injuries or even severe trauma. The other 48.2% had no problems in connection with the experience. In most of these cases the sexual offense was relatively superficial and harmless and/or the "victim" consented to the offense. 
Many experts in the field of prevention have assumed that sexual victims without primary injuries are rare. It certainly appears that this opinion must be re-evaluated. Adults who have the opinion that any sexual behavior is traumatic for children and young people have to face the fact that in many cases the young person becomes a victim only because grown-ups expect him or her to become a victim. On the basis of this expectation they act in such a way that the child really is victimized.

Baurmann, Michael: 
"Highlights" from Baurmann; Translated quotes from 
Michael C. Baurmann,  Sexualität, Gewalt und psychische Folgen: Ein Längschnittuntersuchung bei Opfern sexueller Gewalt und sexuellen Norm-verletzungen anhand von angeziegten Sexualkontakten (Wiesbaden, Bundeskriminalamt Forschungsreihe Nr. 15, 1983) 
Looking at the effects of criminal sexual acts on the declared victim, it turned out that many reported sexual contacts did not cause any harm at all. From this, it follows that the uncritical use of terms like "victim" and "harmed" is, for a large portion of those who are registered as sexual victims, inappropriate. 
Obviously, the words "victim" and "harmed" strongly imply that the person in question has been injured. But for many of the persons interviewed here who became known as victims, these terms just do not apply. 

Chen, Laura P. et al. - Sexual abuse and lifetime diagnosis of psychiatric disorders  - Systematic review and meta-analysis
Mayo Clinic Proceedings, July 31, 2011 
There was no statistically significant association between sexual abuse and a diagnosis of schizophrenia or somatoform disorders. 
No longitudinal studies that assessed bipolar disorder or 
obsessive-compulsive disorder were found. 
Associations between sexual abuse and depression, eating disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder were strengthened by a history of rape.
Conclusion: A history of sexual abuse is associated with an increased risk of a lifetime diagnosis of multiple psychiatric disorders.

Finkelhor, Davind & Jones, Lisa M., Child Sexual Abuse Has Declined - Quotes and highlights from: Child Sexual Abuse Has Declined, David Finkelhor and Lisa M. Jones; in: Child Sexual Abuse. Ed. Angela Lewis. At Issue Series. San Diego; Greenhaven Press, 2005. 
Between 1992 and 2000, the number of substantiated cases of child sexual abuse declined by 40 percent. The decline may be partially due to decreased reporting and changes in the procedures used by child protective services (CPS) agencies. However, there is strong
evidence that a real decline in child sexual abuse occurred. 

Irvine, Martha & Tanner, Robert; Sexual misconduct plagues US schools; AP counts 2,500 teachers punished in 5 years; AP  October 20, 2007 
An Associated Press investigation found more than 2,500 cases over five years in which educators were punished for actions from bizarre to sadistic. [...]
Abuse also is treated with misplaced fascination in American culture. 

Malón, Agustín, Onanism and Child Sexual Abuse; A Comparative Study of Two Hypotheses; Journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, February 18, 2009
In the last three decades of the previous century, a social anxiety emerged regarding child sexual abuse (CSA), with the appearance of news reports, stories, data, self-proclaimed experts, and legislation relating to a type of experience that today is a staple of the media, the professional literature, and, of course, the collective imagination.
This public and media preoccupation, usually tinged with alarmism, would come to be sustained by scientific claims that characterized all erotic relations between minors and adults as pervasively, inevitably, and intensely harmful
 [...].
A study of the origins of this current phenomenon brings us to developments in the Western world, especially in the United States, in the second half of the twentieth century.
[...]
These analytical perspectives ultimately allows us to compare CSA in a socio-historical context with others of past epochs, such as the obsession with anti-onanism of the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries, because in both cases it was a matter of a scientifically articulated cultural narrative in which childhood and eroticism were joined together in an equation of harmfulness as well as individual and collective suffering.
[...]
The failed hypothesis of Onanism and the faulted and failing hypothesis of CSA are ultimately intertwined. The second is heir to the first in that the historical continuity and parallelism are self-evident [...]

Malón, Augustín, On the Iatrogenic Nature of the Child Sexual Abuse Discourse; Journal Sexuality & Culture, February 27, 2009
The current media obfuscation, exaggeration, and exploitation, which are endorsed by some activists and are not adequately examined and challenged by academics and professionals, are counterproductive to rationality in both academic and public deliberations, and decisions in these matters in all probability materially contribute to the iatrogenic problems to be discussed later in this paper.

Nicolaï, N. J., The Consequences of Sexual Abuse of Minors - On behalf of the Commission for Examination of Sexual Abuse of Minors in the Roman-Catholic Church [* in the Netherlands]; In: Rapport Commissie Deetman, Balans, 2011, Part 2. Summary and conclusions in English by Frans E J Gieles, PhD. 
In this essay, sexual abuse is, conform the scientific and juridical mores, defined as "... sexual-genital manipulation of a child below the age of sixteen, by an adult of whom the child is dependent or with whom he or she has a relationship of confidence, with the aim of satisfaction of the sexual need of the first. [...] There is an age difference, and/or a difference in power, by which the child is not able to refuse the sexual contact, which is not consensual." 
Research of the later consequences of sexual abuse is done in three phases or generations of research. 
The most recent research explores what has appeared to be the most central factor: disturbance of the stress regulation. 
There is consensus about harm for the physical and emotional health, especially the attachment and sexuality, even if the consequences are invisible at first sight. They are just like a time bomb, that explodes as soon as, in adulthood, the impact of the events becomes significant. 

Paolucci, Elisabeth; Genius, Mark & Violato, Claudio, 'Meta-analysis of published research on the effects of child sexual abuse (CSA)' ,  Journal of Psychology (2001, 135, 1, 17-36 
A meta-analysis of the published research on the effects of child sexual abuse (CSA) was undertaken for 6 outcomes: posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, suicide, sexual promiscuity, victim-perpetrator cycle, and poor academic performance. [...] 
All six dependent variables were coded, and effect sizes (d) were computed for each outcome. Average unweighted and weighted ds for each of the respective outcome variables were

Rivedal, Karen, Sex crimes that shock most are rare; Madison.com, 608-252-6106, March 4, 2007 
Federal statistics show such crimes, especially involving children, are very rare. Less than 1 percent of all sex crimes involve murder, and the vast majority of sexually abused children - 60 percent to 80 percent - are molested by family members or close friends and acquaintances. Nearly 90 percent of adult victims know their assailants, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Stinson, Michael A., Child Sex Abuse: How Did We Get Here? Philadephia got a wake-up call this week; Philadelphia, Aug. 31, 2006 
Our survey found that almost one in four adult Philadelphians (23.7 percent) reported being sexually abused as a child. Using 2000 census figures, that's more than 270,000 adults. And, over the last three years, one in seven adults said, they were concerned that a child they knew was being sexually abused. In that same period, one in 16 adults said, they were concerned that someone they knew exhibited sexual behavior directed at a child. That's more than 26,000 possible child victims and more than 71,000 possible adult perpetrators right here in Philadelphia.

Quotes & highlights from: 
Wetzstein, Cheryl, The Complex Nature of Child Sexual Abuse; in: Child Abuse. Ed. Bryan J. Grapes. Contemporary Issues Companion Series. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2001. 

The article give some recidivism rates, and statistics like this one: