Child sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with a wide array of long-term problematic outcomes, including juvenile offending. Specifically, victims of CSA are believed to be at a heightened risk of perpetrating sexual harm themselves, but gaps remain in knowledge about how CSA and sexual offending are connected for juveniles, particularly in the Australian context. This study used both administrative youth justice data and clinical information derived from a specialised service providing interventions to youth who perpetrate sexual offences to examine the links between sexual victimisation experiences and sexual offending among Australian youth. Results demonstrated that CSA victimisation was more prominent in the developmental histories of young people who perpetrate sexual offences than in those with non-sexual offences. Further, CSA typically co-occurred with other forms of maltreatment and adverse developmental experiences, highlighting the complexity of presenting difficulties. Analysis of assessment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males who experienced CSA victimisation demonstrated that pathways leading to sexual offending were marked by the accumulation of individual and systemic vulnerabilities (eg childhood impoverishment, ruptured relationships and exposure to criminogenic environments). Taken together, these findings highlight the need for early intervention to prevent the emergence of sexual harm and the need to develop specific intervention approaches for Indigenous youth that are designed and led by Indigenous communities, in conjunction with wider systemic reforms.
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