Childhood sexual abuse victimization and later sexual offending: A narrative review

Abstract

Background: Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a major public health, child-protection, and psychosocial concern associated with adverse psychological, behavioural, interpersonal, and social outcomes. A frequently discussed hypothesis is that some survivors may subsequently engage in sexual offending. However, the evidence is heterogeneous, and a history of CSA should not be treated as a deterministic pathway to later offending. Objective: To review the literature on the association between childhood sexual abuse victimization and subsequent sexual offending and to identify individual, abuse-related, family, interpersonal, and social factors that may increase or reduce this risk. Methods: The manuscript reports a narrative review of 57 studies published between 1993 and 2021, identified primarily through Google Scholar and covering approximately 39 journals. The original manuscript did not document a reproducible search strategy, detailed eligibility criteria, or a formal risk-of-bias assessment. Accordingly, the present article is framed as a narrative synthesis rather than a systematic review or meta-analysis. Results: The reviewed literature provides mixed evidence. Some retrospective, clinical, and offender-sample studies report an association between childhood sexual abuse and later sexual offending, whereas prospective population-based studies indicate that only a minority of sexually abused children subsequently become sexual offenders and that many sexual offenders do not have a documented history of childhood sexual abuse. Additional factors—including other forms of maltreatment, family violence, neglect, inadequate supervision, problematic sexual behaviour, attachment difficulties, and broader social and developmental vulnerabilities—may influence outcomes. Conclusion: Childhood sexual abuse may be associated with later sexual offending in a subset of survivors, but the evidence does not support an inevitable or deterministic victim-to-perpetrator pathway. Prevention and intervention should therefore focus on trauma-informed care, early identification of problematic sexual behaviour, strengthening safe and supportive relationships, addressing co-occurring maltreatment and substance use, and improving access to child-protection and mental-health services.

Keywords: Child sexual abuse; sexual offending; victimization; risk factors; protective factors; trauma