Sexual abuse of children and adolescents

Abstract

Increasingly, clinicians are being asked to help determine whether a child or adolescent has been a victim of sexual abuse. Since the late 1970s numerous articles about sexual abuse have appeared in the literature. This review article will acquaint the clinician with the definition and incidence of sexual abuse and the characteristics of the abused and the abuser. Practical guidelines are included for interviewing the victim, performing the physical examination, appropriate laboratory testing, treatment, reporting to appropriate authorities, and court testimony.