The aftermath of child sexual abuse of African American and white American women: The victim's experience

Several aspects of the victim's personal experience in the aftermath of child sexual abuse are described. Subject recruitment involved a multi-stage stratified probability sample of 126 African American and 122 White women, ages 18 to 36 years in Los Angeles County, matched on education, marital status, and the presence of children. Few ethnic differences were related to the initial response and short-term effects of the victim's experiences. Lasting effects of sexual abuse included sexual problems for women of both ethnic groups, but avoidance of men resembling the perpetrator was identified among African American women. Ethnicity may be a contributing factor to other adjustment related problems that African American women encounter in addition to their child sexual victimization. The implications of these findings and issues in the assessment of the aftermath are discussed.