Prohibited Sexual Behavior and Sexual Violence

Adult Sexual Contact with Children: Pedophilia: Legal Aspects 2

As we have seen, courts cannot be careful enough in trying sexual offenses against children. However, this cautionary note is not intended to deny undeniable facts: There are indeed serious sexual crimes committed against children, and they need to be prosecuted. However, their number is lower than the public is often led to believe. Not only sensational mass trials of “child molesters”, but also gruesome murders of children receive extensive media coverage and shock newspaper readers and television viewers alike. Nevertheless, the general public is often left with a distorted picture. A simple look at the long-term statistics of ‘cases reported’ and ‘offenders convicted’ can bring a healthy dose of sobriety to the often heated discussion of this controversial topic. For example, there is strong evidence that, in the 1990s, the physical and sexual abuse of children has declined in the US. Another interesting statistic can be found in the Federal Republic of Germany: Over a period of 44 years, there was no significant increase in the number of convictions.

German police statistics of sexual child abuse  Cases reported  Arrests  Convictions   Entire Federal Republic after unification  Only the former West Germany Source: Hartmut A.G. Bosinski, Häufigkeit und Symptome sexuallen Kindesmißbrauchs, in: Sexuologie 8 (1) 2000, pp. 55-62 (p. 56)