Abstract:
Child sexual abuse (CSA) has been shown to differ depending on the
relationship between child complainant and defendant, yet no found
studies have compared intra-familial and extra-familial CSA in
Sweden. The present thesis aimed to study quantitative differences
between alleged intra-familial and extra-familial cases of CSA. Cases
from Swedish District Courts (n = 174) of sexual abuse against
children up to 7 years old were analyzed. In line with previous
research, several differences in characteristics between alleged intraand
extra-familial cases were found. A significant difference in
juridical decision to convict or acquit was also shown, with more
intra-familial cases resulting in acquittal and more extra-familial
cases resulting in conviction. Extra-familial relationship was also a
significant predictor to conviction. Future studies may want to
further examine whether an explanation for the difference in juridical
decision could be found in differences in evidence provided.