From telling to receiving: the disclosure-and-services cascade after childhood sexual abuse across 15 low- and middle-income countries

In 3,608 survivors aged 18–24 who reported childhood sexual abuse across 15 low- and middle-income countries, only 7.0% received formal help, with country rates from 0.9% to 26.3%.

• Why it matters: Most survivors in these settings never reach formal services, but the field lacks evidence tracing how disclosure and service access unfold step-by-step and what factors align with each transition.
• What they did: The study pooled 15 nationally representative VACS surveys (2013–2024) and estimated survey-weighted proportions for four cascade steps, then used design-based logistic regression with country fixed effects to compute adjusted odds ratios.
• The result: Female survivors were more likely to tell anyone (aOR 2.30) and more likely to seek help among those who knew where to go (aOR 2.66), while knowing where to seek help was linked to older age, more schooling, and having a living mother.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.