Child Sexual Abuse : Current Evidence, Clinical Practice, and Policy Directions

This brief approaches the challenging topic of child sexual abuse from an objective, evidence-based perspective. It offers an overview of child sexual abuse, including definitions and a clear explanation of the epidemiology. The text also explores the conceptual frameworks that seek to explain how a child comes to be sexually abused by an adult or older adolescent.

In the chapters, the authors present credible prevalence and incidence studies that are used to provide a scientific response to how common this problem is. In addition, they address the policy implications for a myriad of prevention and treatment initiatives as well as related issues such as delayed reporting and the risk for sexual abuse within child serving organizations. Finally, the brief concludes with the authors' recommendations for the future on how best to prevent child sexual abuse in the first place. Prevention of child sexual abuse is very different than prevention of child physical abuse and neglect and requires a different framework and set of initiatives.

Child Sexual Abuse: Current Evidence, Clinical Practice, and Policy Directions is a must-have resource for a range of professionals including healthcare providers, child advocates, clinical social workers, public health officials, mental health providers, and legislative staff professionals. It also is written in a readable manner for members of the lay public.

Tanya S. Hinds, MD, MS, FAAP, is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC and a board-certified Child Abuse Pediatrician. She is an Attending Child Abuse Pediatrician at the Child and Adolescent Protection Center at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC. In addition to patient care, Dr. Hinds serves as the course director of a Child Abuse Pediatrics elective for medical students. . Dr. Hinds is an active participant in the District of Columbia’s Multidisciplinary Team on Child Abuse. She is also a member of several national organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Section on Child Abuse and Neglect, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, and the Ray E. Helfer Society. Dr. Hinds is part of several child maltreatment research and education efforts at Children’s National, lectures locally and nationally, and testifies in child abuse cases in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.

Angelo P. Giardino, MD, PhD, MPH, is the Wilma T. Gibson Presidential Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Utah’s School of Medicine and Chief Medical Officer at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. He received his medical degree and doctorate in education from the University of Pennsylvania, completed his residency and fellowship training at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), earned a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Massachusetts, a Master’s in Theology from the Catholic Distance University, and a Master’s in Public Affairs from the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. He holds subspecialty certifications in Pediatrics and Child Abuse Pediatrics from the American Board of Pediatrics. He is also a Certified Physician Executive (CPE) within the American Association for Physician Leadership. He completed the Patient Safety Certificate Program from the Quality Colloquium, is certified in medical quality (CMQ) as designated by the American Board of Medical Quality, and is a Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Medical Quality. Dr. Giardino is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Child Health Finance. He is a recipient of the Fulbright & Jaworski Faculty Excellence Award at Baylor College of Medicine and the 2013 Healthcare Advocacy Award from Doctors for Change in Houston, TX. His academic accomplishments include published articles, chapters, and textbooks on child abuse and neglect, contributions to several national curricula on the evaluation of child maltreatment, and presentations on a variety of pediatric topics at both national and regional conferences. He is a member of several national and regional boards, including Prevent Child Abuse America, Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities, the U.S. Center for SafeSport, and the National Advisory Council of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) for the U.S. Catholic Church, where he provides advice on how to best protect children from sexual abuse. He is also co-editor of the Children at Risk Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk and the Journal of Family Strengths. Previously, Dr. Giardino served for 12 years on the National Review Board for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, where he chaired the Research Subcommittee, was elected Vice-Chair, and introduced the concept of high reliability as a quality improvement approach to work toward the response, and ultimately the prevention, of child sexual abuse in the church environment. He currently serves on the local review board for the Diocese of Salt Lake City, Utah.