Resources · Evidence
Articles and sources
The studies, reports and documents cited on these pages, with a link to the original publication. The Foundation’s books and studies are in the Library.
Sources
Definition of child sexual abuse
- Murillo, J. A. (2020). Abuso sexual, de conciencia y de poder: hacia una nueva definición [Sexual abuse, abuse of conscience and abuse of power: towards a new definition]. Estudios Eclesiásticos, 95(373), 415–440 (in Spanish)
- Murillo, J. A., Mendiburo-Seguel, A., Santelices, M. P., Araya, P., Narváez, S., Piraino, C., Martínez, J. and Hamilton, J. (2021). Abuso sexual temprano y su impacto en el bienestar actual del adulto [Early sexual abuse and its impact on current adult well-being]. Psicoperspectivas, 20(1) (in Spanish; open access)
False reports and family proceedings
- Schemmel, J., Zell, K., Senberg, A., Sahlfeld, A.-L., Otzipka, J., Volbert, R. and Zumbach-Basu, J. (2026). Child Sexual Abuse Allegations in Child Custody, Child Visitation, and Child Protection Proceedings: A Scoping Review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse (open access)
- Milchman, M. S. (2024). Oversimplified beliefs about child abuse allegations in custody cases with alienation rebuttals – review of empirical data. Journal of Family Trauma, Child Custody & Child Development, 21(2), 165–192
- Trocmé, N. and Bala, N. (2005). False allegations of abuse and neglect when parents separate. Child Abuse & Neglect, 29(12), 1333–1345 (open version)
- Black, T., Saini, M., Fallon, B., Deljavan, S., Theoduloz, R. and Wall, M. (2016). The intersection of child custody disputes and child protection investigations: Secondary data analysis of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2008). International Journal of Child and Adolescent Resilience, 4(1), 143–157 (open access)
- Oates, R. K., Jones, D. P., Denson, D., Sirotnak, A., Gary, N. and Krugman, R. D. (2000). Erroneous concerns about child sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 24(1), 149–157
- McGraw, J. M. and Smith, H. A. (1992). Child sexual abuse allegations amidst divorce and custody proceedings: Refining the validation process. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 1(1), 49–62
- Meier, J. S. (2020). U.S. child custody outcomes in cases involving parental alienation and abuse allegations: what do the data show? Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 42(1), 92–105
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, Reem Alsalem (2023). Custody, violence against women and violence against children (A/HRC/53/36). United Nations
- Martínez, L. (2022). No hay pruebas de que las «denuncias falsas» por violencia de género sean un problema extendido [There is no evidence that “false reports” of gender-based violence are a widespread problem]. Chequeado (in Spanish)
- Levitt, A. and Crown Prosecution Service Equality and Diversity Unit (2013). Charging perverting the course of justice and wasting police time in cases involving allegedly false rape and domestic violence allegations. Crown Prosecution Service
Prevalence and disclosure
- Fang, X., Ren, J., Kang, J. et al. (2026). A systematic review of the global and regional estimates of the prevalence of sexual violence against children. Nature Human Behaviour, 10(6), 1130–1142
- Cagney, J., Spencer, C., Flor, L. et al. (2025). Prevalence of sexual violence against children and age at first exposure: a global analysis by location, age, and sex (1990–2023). The Lancet, 405(10492), 1817–1836 (open access)
- Piolanti, A., Schmid, I. E., Fiderer, F. J., Ward, C. L., Stöckl, H. and Foran, H. M. (2025). Global prevalence of sexual violence against children: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatrics, 179(3), 264–272
- Ruiz-Ramos, J., Palacios-Rodríguez, L., Cerezo, M. V. and Ferragut, M. (2025). Prevalence of Sexual Abuse in Children and Adolescents: An Updated Meta-Analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse (published online in 2025)
- Whitten, T., Cale, J. and Salter, M. (2026). The Prevalence of Self-Reported Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by Adults in the General Population: A Systematic Review and Proportional Meta-Analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse (published online in 2026)
- Stoltenborgh, M., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Euser, E. M. and Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2011). A global perspective on child sexual abuse: meta-analysis of prevalence around the world. Child Maltreatment, 16(2), 79–101
- Qu, X., Shen, X., Xia, R., Wu, J., Lao, Y., Chen, M., Gan, Y. and Jiang, C. (2022). The prevalence of sexual violence against female children: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Child Abuse & Neglect, 131, 105764
- Fry, D. et al. (2025). Prevalence estimates and nature of online child sexual exploitation and abuse: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 9(3), 184–193
- Rivera-Rivera, L., Séris-Martínez, M., Ortega-Ceballos, P. A., Reding-Bernal, A., Astudillo-García, C. I., Castillo, L. E. C. and Reynales-Shigematsu, L. M. (2025). Trends in the Prevalence and Case Characteristics of Child Sexual Abuse in Mexico, 2018–2023. Healthcare, 13(19), 2489 (open access)
- Abdul Latiff, M., Fang, L., Goh, D. A. and Tan, L. J. (2024). A systematic review of factors associated with disclosure of child sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 147, 106564
- Wallis, C. R. D. and Woodworth, M. D. (2020). Child sexual abuse: An examination of individual and abuse characteristics that may impact delays of disclosure. Child Abuse & Neglect, 107, 104604
- Delegación del Gobierno contra la Violencia de Género and Asociación de Mujeres Juristas Themis (2020). La respuesta judicial a la violencia sexual que sufren los niños y las niñas [The judicial response to sexual violence against children]. Ministerio de Igualdad de España (in Spanish)
- Delegación del Gobierno contra la Violencia de Género (2020). Macroencuesta de Violencia contra la Mujer 2019. Resumen ejecutivo [2019 Macro-survey on Violence against Women. Executive summary]. Ministerio de Igualdad de España (in Spanish)
- CNN Chile (2022). Primera Encuesta Nacional de Abuso Sexual en la Niñez: 48% tardó más de una década en contarlo [First National Survey on Sexual Abuse in Childhood: 48% took more than a decade to tell]. (in Spanish)
- Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (2022). Primera Encuesta Nacional de Abuso Sexual y Adversidades en la Niñez [First National Survey on Sexual Abuse and Childhood Adversity]. (in Spanish)
- CUIDA UC and Fundación para la Confianza, National Survey on Sexual Abuse and Childhood Adversity (2021-2022), weighted calculations from the dataset.
Justice system and comparative law
- Pavez, C. and Pietrasanta, N. (2025). Niños, niñas y adolescentes víctimas de delitos sexuales: ingreso de denuncias y respuestas del sistema de justicia penal [Child and adolescent victims of sexual offences: reports received and the response of the criminal justice system]. Fundación Amparo y Justicia (in Spanish)
- Child Welfare Information Gateway (2019). Penalties for failure to report and false reporting of child abuse and neglect. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Child Welfare Information Gateway (2023). Immunity for persons who report child abuse and neglect. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Child Welfare Information Gateway (2019). Penalties for failure to report and false reporting of child abuse and neglect: Connecticut. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Consequences and prevention
- Hailes, H. P., Yu, R., Danese, A. and Fazel, S. (2019). Long-term outcomes of childhood sexual abuse: an umbrella review. The Lancet Psychiatry, 6(10), 830–839
- Boumpa, V. et al. (2024). Sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood: a systematic review and meta-analysis. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 33(6), 1653–1673 (published online in 2022)
- Lu, M., Barlow, J., Meinck, F., Walsh, K. and Wu, Y. (2023). School-based child sexual abuse interventions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Research on Social Work Practice, 33(4), 390–412
- Ferragut, M., Cerezo, M. V., Ortiz-Tallo, M. and Rodríguez-Fernández, R. (2023). Effectiveness of child sexual abuse prevention programs on knowledge acquisition: A meta-analytical study. Child Abuse & Neglect, 146, 106489
- Walsh, K., Zwi, K., Woolfenden, S. and Shlonsky, A. (2015). School-based education programmes for the prevention of child sexual abuse. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (4), CD004380 (open access)
- Wanni Arachchige Dona, S., Bloxsom, G., Green, J., Angeles, M. R., Humphreys, C. and Gold, L. (2025). Economic evaluation of prevention interventions for child sexual exploitation or child sexual abuse: A systematic review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 26(3), 546–559
Translation by Fundación Para la Confianza. In case of any difference, the Spanish version prevails. Spanish version.