Moroccan women with a history of child sexual abuse and its long-term repercussions: a population-based epidemiological study.
Author: Mchichi Alami K, Kadri N.
Source:
Archives of women’s mental health, 7(4), 237-242.
Childhood sexual abuse is defined as sexual contact imposed on a child whose
development is still, from the emotional, cognitive and maturity point of view,
lacking. The objective of this epidemiological study, conducted among a
representative sample of the female population aged 20 and over in Casablanca,
Morocco, is to determine the prevalence of the childhood sexual abuse and its
long-term repercussions. The main results were that 9.2% (n=65) reported
childhood sexual abuse. The mean age of this subgroup was 31.34+/-9.43 years
(20-63); 66.1% were housewives; 40% were single and 10.8% were divorced. The
prevalence of genital abuse with penetration was 33.8% (22 cases). The abuser was
known in 56.2% and was a family member in 20.4% of the cases. Of the 728 women
interviewed, 27 (43.5%) abused women and 83 (29.5%) non-abused women during
childhood reported depressive symptoms with a positive association (p=0.03).
There was also an association between the most severe types of abuse and
vaginismus. Generally speaking, all those who were abused during their childhood
suffered sexual disturbances during their adult life.