Child sexual abuse reporting: Trends and challenges before, during, and after COVID-19 school closures in Georgia, USA

Abstract

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread school closures, raising concerns that reduced contact with mandated reporters would result in underreporting of child sexual abuse (CSA). However, limited empirical research has examined how school closures influenced CSA reporting trends.

Objective

This study investigated whether COVID-19 school closures were associated with varying demographic characteristics of CSA reports in Georgia.

Methods

Data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) Child File 2019–2021 was used to inform the following research questions in Georgia: 1) What were the demographic characteristics of CSA victims between 2019 and 2021?; 2) Were the COVID-19 school closures associated with the demographic differences (e.g., age, race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic circumstances, prior victimization, etc.) in CSA reports?

Results

The findings from this study supported the hypothesis that COVID-19 school closures diminished CSA reporting for some victim groups. The largest proportion of reports involved racial/ethnic minority children (49.9 %), girls (83.0 %), and elementary school-aged children (39.0 %). Prior victimization was noted in 17.2 % of cases, and nearly half of the reports involved children from single-parent households (45.0 %). Proportions of some victim sociodemographic characteristics significantly differed across each of the time periods examined.

Conclusions

COVID-19 school closures led to a decline in CSA reporting for certain victim groups and shifts in victim demographics in Georgia, underscoring the need for future research, policy adaptations, and interventions to address these reporting gaps and ensure more equitable protection for vulnerable children in times of public health emergencies.