DISABLED and vulnerable children are more likely to be targeted by sexual predators because there's less risk they will tell someone, an inquiry has heard.
A leading academic says children without strong family networks are easier for pedophiles to manipulate and access.
This means child victims are vulnerable to further abuse, University of Sydney Associate Professor Judith Cashmore says.
"Unfortunately the children who are most vulnerable are those with disabilities and those who have already been abused and neglected and removed from their homes," Prof Cashmore told the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations on Friday.
She said studies involving interviews with offenders about how they selected victims showed they were very strategic.
"They look for children where they're less likely to be believed.
"It's no accident that the sort of circumstances in which children are abused are those where people are standing in as parents - because they have unsupervised access."
Statistics show girls are more likely to be abused than boys but they are also more likely to report abuse, the inquiry heard.
In an institutional setting, boys are more frequently victims.
In instances of clergy abuse, boys account for approximately three-quarters to 80 per cent of victims.
Under these circumstances the abuse was more likely to be violently sexual and involve multiple perpetrators, Prof Cashmore said.
The victims of clergy are also likely to be older children approaching adolescence.
"It really has a dramatic impact on their sexuality," Prof Cashmore said.
It also inhibits reporting because men fear being labelled a possible perpetrator in the future.
The sense of shame and guilt was one of the long-term impacts outlined by Prof Cashmore in her submission to the inquiry.
Anxiety and depression, feelings of helplessness, vulnerability, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress, suicide and difficulty forming adult relationships are some of the things abuse victims have to deal with.
The high levels of stress may be linked to more serious life-long health problems such as chronic back pain, heart disease and irritable bowel syndrome.
Despite this, Prof Cashmore said with support and understanding there was hope for recovery.
"Not everyone who's sexually abused is going to suffer irreparable harm," she said.
"A lot of people can recover."
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