YOUNG girls are vulnerable to being sexually abused by older boys and dirty old men.
But the Birth-to-20 Plus study reveals a scary reality. Researchers say this kind of abuse is not limited to girls. Young boys are sexually abused as well.
A long-running South African study showed that 1 in 20 young boys are sexually abused. These findings are backed by other studies.
International studies show that worldwide, up to 10% of boys are sexually abused.
The Birth-to-20 Plus study, hosted at Wits University, shows that 5% of the 11-year-old boys in the study reported sexual abuse. By the time the boys were 14, 37% of them had experienced unwanted touching and rape.
The nature of the abuse is often different. where boys are forced to look at private parts, forced to watch people masturbate or to view porn.
What is most shocking is that most often their friends of the same age were the ones committing the acts.
Two years ago, the University of Cape Town released the Optimus Study on the rate of child abuse in Mzansi, where boys reported higher levels of child sexual abuse than girls.
It appears that abused boys will be more likely to abuse others. They may also turn to drugs and alcohol and stop working due to depression and other illnesses.
In addition, there has been a strong link made between being abused and becoming obese.
