What survivors of multiple sexual assaults tell us about their perpetrators: A retrospective observational study on age, sex, relationships, threats, and duration of sexual abuse (Preprint)
Bibliographic record
Abstract
BACKGROUND Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a pervasive global issue with profound long-term consequences for survivors. Extensive research has documented its prevalence, perpetrator demographics, and survivor-perpetrator relationships. However, significant gaps remain in understanding the specific dynamics of multiple sexual assaults perpetrated by the same individual over time, particularly regarding the types of threats used, the duration of abuse, and the patterns of help-seeking behaviour among survivors. OBJECTIVE This retrospective observational study aimed to provide a comprehensive descriptive analysis of survivors who experienced multiple sexual assaults by the same perpetrator. It specifically examined the sex and age of survivors and perpetrators, the survivor-perpetrator relationship, the types of threats used to gain compliance, the duration of the sexual abuse, and the length of time survivors waited before seeking therapy. METHODS We analyzed archival data collected over 9 years from a large sample of 2,516 survivors of repeated sexual assaults by a single perpetrator who sought therapy at one of the sexual assault centers in Alberta, Canada. We employed descriptive statistics (means, percentages) and inferential statistics (t-test, Spearman’s rho) to analyze key variables. RESULTS The mean age at the first assault was 9.48 years, with 89% of survivors experiencing onset before age 18 years. The abuse lasted a mean of 5.07 years, with a significant negative correlation between earlier onset and longer duration. The sample was predominantly female survivors (87%). Perpetrators were overwhelmingly male (96%). Most assaults (55%) were intrafamilial (incest). Male perpetrators most frequently used physical force (29%), verbal threats (23%), bribes/promises (22%), and inferred threats (21%), while female perpetrators most often used bribes/promises (40%). Survivors waited an average of 13.9 years before seeking therapy, with males waiting significantly longer than females. CONCLUSIONS This study underscores that CSA is primarily intrafamilial, begins at a young age, and often persists for years. The findings highlight the tailored use of threats by perpetrators based on their relationship to the victim and the victim's age. The extensive delay in seeking therapy reveals critical barriers to support. The results emphasize the urgent need for early, targeted prevention strategies and trauma-informed intervention programs focused on the family environment and the specific profiles of survivors and perpetrators.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.007 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".