RT Article
T1 The Prevalence of Peer Sexual Harassment During Childhood in Australia
JF Journal of interpersonal violence
VO 39
IS 23/24
SP 5108
OP 5130
A1 Hunt, Gabrielle R.
A2 Higgins, Daryl J.
A2 Willis, Megan L.
A2 Mathews, Ben
A2 Lawrence, David
A2 Meinck, Franziska
A2 Pacella, Rosana
A2 Thomas, Hannah J.
A2 Scott, James Glenn 1960-
A2 Erskine, Holly E.
A2 Malacova, Eva
A2 Haslam, Divna M.
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/190740760X
AB Sexual harassment inflicted by adolescents on their peers is a major public health issue, but its prevalence across childhood is not known. We provide the first nationally representative data on the prevalence of peer sexual harassment across childhood, using cross-sectional data from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS). The ACMS surveyed 8,503 people aged 16 and over about their experiences of child maltreatment and associated health outcomes. The prevalence of peer sexual harassment was assessed using the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ)-R2 Adapted Version (ACMS), with survey data weighted to reflect characteristics of the Australian population. Overall, 1 in 10 (10.4% (95% Confidence Intervals (CI) [9.7, 11.3])) Australians experienced peer sexual harassment during childhood. Peer sexual harassment is an issue disproportionately affecting gender-diverse individuals (24.0%, 95% CI [15.5, 35.2]) and women (15.3%, 95% CI [14.0, 16.7%]), compared to men (5.0%, 95% CI [4.3, 5.9]). Rates of peer sexual harassment were also very high among sexuality diverse participants (prevalence estimates ranging between 14.2% and 29.8%). Peer sexual harassment was predominately inflicted by male peers (9.6%, 95% CI [8.9, 10.4]), compared to 1.8% (95% CI [1.5, 2.2]) reporting harassment from female peers. These findings have implications for understanding and reducing attitudes supporting peer sexual harassment in childhood, particularly against girls and gender and sexuality diverse youth, and associations with other gendered violence both in childhood and later life.
K1 LGBTQIA+
K1 Intersectionality
K1 Diversity
K1 Gender
K1 Adolescents
K1 Children
K1 Sexual Harassment
DO 10.1177/08862605241245368