Intra-Familial and Extra-Familial Child Sexual Abuse: Differences in Swedish Court Cases

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 intra- and 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.