i new the stats before cuz i looked at then like 4 or 5 months ago. but i agree why dont people believe it? really i think they want to block it out as much as we do so they dont have to deal with it. Its hard for anyone who has never been abused to understand, or think of dealing with it. its out of there context. but people who where abused and are still say "oh ya right" to you then there trying to block there own out, or they think that you are making it up so you can try and understand them. No matter what us as being abused cant explain it to some one who has never been abused because they dont know the ful extent of the pain or anything. and people who dont believe it happend to you and have been abused may just dont want to hear of others getting abused. But i wish more people would believe it more children would come out into the open i think.

It's not an epidemic, the stats have been like this for years. It's because the information IS so readily available now due to 24 hour news services, the internet, and more reports of it. However it still is the last taboo or family secret, so it still is not reported as much as it should be. And children will not tell, so by the time is IT told, they are adults. That's why people "don't" believe it. But as more and more stories come out from adult survivors, more adults tell THEIR stories. In the end it balances out.

I told my school counselor, my sunday school teacher, my mother, mothers of my friends... I know they believed me. I think for the most part they didn't know what to do. The school counselor called CPS and I got put in a foster home but they always sent me back. The average person doesn't know how to respond. They are afraid to get involved for fear of retaliation by the family, so many things. I believe even if this hadn't happened to me I would still turn them in. How can they look at themselves in the mirror knowing they turned their back on a child in need? I am always amazed. And disgusted...

I first became aware of most of these stats some 31 years ago. I would say it was epidemic then, too. ;-)

There is just so much more information out there today on the subject and yet people still cling to their denial about how pervasive child sexual abuse is.

They are in denial now as much as they were then. Sort of like the catholic church. Shuffle it around a bit here and there, cover it up, pretend you didn't hear and hope it goes away.....

Isn't that the truth!! Why would any child lie about such a thing. They don't have the specific informaiton about sexual interaction to be able to make it up. It makes absolutely no sense.

And as a parent - I cannot imagine not believing my child if he had told me he had been abused. I would have been out the door and on my way to the abuser's house - in a falsh.

I agree - we must believe the children.

I can't decide what I think of those stats. One part of me is a bit relieved to hear that so many people are abused because it means that I'm not so alone, not the only one. But it also makes me overwhelmingly sad that so many people have to go through this. That so many people are selfish and cruel enough to mistreat children. And in order for those stats to be so high, there have to be a lot of ignorant parents out there. I hope this issue gets more publicity in the future - we need to protect all those kids.

in the old day children were treated like property authoritys took the see not tell not approch to this .today with the internet and news,the past come at you fast when the children in texas were taken away from their homes by cps it was all over the news the children were this and they were treated like that.also i must note the were put bach to their homes because auuthortys could not prove any abuse occured,which is telling me they dident know what to ask those kids by these statistics about 40 of them should have been abused
numbers can be worked to show anything you want do i belive that yes i do and i think its lower than people want to admit to everybody here that posted has a valid point but its just like rape underreported why because of fear,not fear of the abuser but fear of sociaty looking down on them
how many here once you told someone what happened to you did they look at you different,was your friedship changed by it,i not sorry i told anybody i needed to to get over this but if i was younger i would have never said anything to anyone