Protecting children from sexual abuse

Many questions about child sexual abuse have still not received adequate answers. Why and how does child sexual abuse occur and therefore how may it be prevented? Can children protect themselves from abuse and what should the role of the community, schools and parents be? Developed countries have sophisticated data collection systems to document what seems to be an ever-rising incidence of abuse and prevention programs have proliferated in recent decades. Yet many countries have found that reports exceed the capacity of social services to intervene with any but the most severe cases or those with the highest likelihood of repeat or ongoing abuse. Large numbers of children are abused each year both by individuals acting alone or in networks and by people who are protected by institutions