A study headed by Dr. Harriet L. MacMillon of the Centre for Studies of Children At Risk at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and published in the July 9th, 1997 Journal of the American Medical Association reveals that approximately 1 in 7 females are sexually abused as children. The study also shows that 1 in 5 girls are physically abused while growing up and a little less than 1 in 10 girls are severely physically abused while growing up. Girls at all ages were more often sexually abused than boys. Also, girls reported a higher incidence of simultaneous physical and sexual abuse. Seven percent of women and a little over two percent of men reported simultaneous abuse. The study asked 1,000 randomly selected people ages 15 and above to fill out a confidential questionnaire. Doctors involved in the study said the numbers were actually on the low side because teenagers make up thirty to forty percent of abusers against children, but the study only asked if a person has ever been abused by an adult.
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