In South Africa, boys more likely to be sexually abused than girls - researchers

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Boys are slightly more likely to be sexually abused than girls in South Africa, where a third of all children have experienced some form of sexual abuse in their lifetime, according to the first-ever national study of child maltreatment.

Nearly 37 percent of boys and 34 percent of girls have been sexually abused by the age of 17, either physically or in non-physical ways - such as being forced to watch sexual acts, look at genitalia or explicit material.