The study on child and adolescent disclosure of sexual abuse is related to primary and secondary prevention, in addition to providing interventions for this type of violence. This article aims at characterizing the patterns of disclosure and discovery of sexual abuse, verifying its association to individual factors of the victims and perpetrators (age, sex) and relational factors (familiarity between victims and perpetrators, as well as with the recipient of the disclosure). The study analyzed 232 cases of sexual abuse retrieved from records of three specialized services, one service was localized in the Brazilian state of Pará (PA) and two in the state Rio Grande do Sul (RS). The patterns of disclosure and discovery were significantly associated to the age and sex of the victims, and the place of the sample (PA and RS). Intentional disclosure was more frequent among female victims (33.5%) and accidental detection was more frequent among males (44.7%). In the sample from PA, accidental detection (46.9%) was predominant, whereas among the victims from RS intentional disclosure prevailed (31.1%). The importance of issues such as gender, developmental stage and influence of cultural and structural factors in public policies to prevent sexual abuse is also discussed.
Dias Baía, P. A., Xavier Veloso, M. M., Habigzang, L. F., Dalbosco Dell’Aglio, D., & Colino Magalhães, C. M. (2015). Patterns of child and adolescent disclosure and discovery of sexual abuse. Revista De Psicología, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-0581.2015.37007
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