What the research says about why children don't tell
yuli is built on decades of research into disclosure: how often children stay silent, what keeps them silent, and what helps them speak. Here is what that research shows, and where yuli's own evidence stands today.
The disclosure gap
Most children carry it alone
children who experience sexual abuse do not tell anyone during childhood.
London et al., 2005; Azzopardi et al., 2019children who are sexually abused know and trust the person who harms them.
CDCof survivors in a national Australian survey had never told anyone at all.
Australian Child Maltreatment Study, 2025of children in 257 court cases took their disclosure back. It was more likely when a caregiver did not support them.
Malloy, Lyon & Quas, 2007These studies measured sexual abuse. yuli is designed for children facing any form of abuse.
To read what happens when a child does tell, and what helps the adult, see how children tell.
Three findings that shape yuli
Why children stay silent, and what helps
Telling is a process, not a single moment
Research reviews describe disclosure as gradual and often partial. Children test the water, share a piece, watch how the adult reacts, and then decide whether to say more. Many wait until adulthood.
Fear of what will happen, shame, and the person who harmed them, who is often someone close to them.
Alaggia et al., 2019Keeping some control over how and when they tell, adults who respond well, and a real opportunity to start.
McElvaney, 2015A child can begin small and go at their own pace, with adults they choose themselves.
2 don't tell anyone during childhood
London et al., 2005; Azzopardi et al., 2019Monitoring is built for adults, not for a child who needs to tell
A study of 75 online-safety apps for teens found that 89% of their features supported parental control. Only 11% supported teens managing their own safety.
In 736 reviews written by children, 76% gave these apps one star.
Ghosh et al., 2018Children described the apps as overly restrictive and invasive, and said they hurt their relationships with their parents.
Ghosh et al., 2018Nothing happens unless the child starts it. yuli is designed with unsafe homes in mind.
The first adult's reaction shapes what happens next
In a study of 257 court cases, 23% of children took their disclosure back. That was more likely for younger children, children harmed by a parent figure, and children whose other caregiver did not support them.
The same researchers point to evidence that caregiver support can grow when caregivers are taught how to respond.
Malloy, Lyon & Quas, 2007Children watch the first reaction closely and decide from it whether to say more.
McElvaney, 2015yuli prepares the adult a child chooses to meet that first telling well. That guidance is being developed with clinical review.
More likely without a supportive caregiver
Malloy, Lyon & Quas, 2007Why the delay matters
Silence in childhood follows people for life
earlier average death among adults who carried the heaviest childhood adversity.
Brown et al., 2009of adult depression could be prevented by preventing childhood adversity.
CDC; Merrick et al., 2019estimated yearly US cost of health conditions linked to childhood adversity.
Peterson et al., 2023yuli's own evidence
What 126 licensed clinicians told us
of child-facing clinicians rated the yuli concept moderately to extremely helpful.
of child-facing clinicians rated it very or extremely helpful.
of clinicians who work with adult survivors said a private channel like yuli would likely have helped their clients disclose sooner.
This is clinician opinion, not proof that yuli works for children. We use it to decide what to build and what to test next. Source: yuli clinical validation study, 2026. 126 licensed clinicians.
A different starting point
Most child-safety tech starts with the adult. yuli starts with the child.
Built for parental control
- Most features exist to give the adult control (89%)
- The adult sets it up and decides how it is used
- Little support for children managing their own safety (11%)
Built for the child who needs to tell
- The child decides when to begin
- The child chooses which adults they trust
- The adult is prepared to respond well
- yuli connects. Adults and professionals act.
Research partners
Help us test this properly
No child has used yuli, and none will until clinical review has happened. We're looking for clinicians and researchers to help shape how yuli is reviewed, piloted, and measured.
Sources
References
- Alaggia, R., Collin-Vézina, D., & Lateef, R. (2019). Facilitators and barriers to child sexual abuse (CSA) disclosures: A research update (2000–2016). Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 20(2), 260–283. Read the research review.
- Australian Child Maltreatment Study (2025). Disclosure and non-disclosure of child sexual abuse in Australia: Results from a national survey.
- Azzopardi, C., Eirich, R., Rash, C. L., MacDonald, S., & Madigan, S. (2019). A meta-analysis of the prevalence of child sexual abuse disclosure in forensic settings. Child Abuse & Neglect, 93, 291–304.
- Brown, D. W., et al. (2009). Adverse childhood experiences and the risk of premature mortality. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 37(5), 389–396.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preventing child sexual abuse.
- Ghosh, A. K., Badillo-Urquiola, K., Guha, S., LaViola, J. J., & Wisniewski, P. J. (2018). Safety vs. surveillance: What children have to say about mobile apps for parental control. Proceedings of CHI 2018.
- London, K., Bruck, M., Ceci, S. J., & Shuman, D. W. (2005). Disclosure of child sexual abuse: What does the research tell us about the ways that children tell? Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 11(1), 194–226.
- Malloy, L. C., Lyon, T. D., & Quas, J. A. (2007). Filial dependency and recantation of child sexual abuse allegations. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 46(2), 162–170. Read the study.
- McElvaney, R. (2015). Disclosure of child sexual abuse: Delays, non-disclosure and partial disclosure. What the research tells us and implications for practice. Child Abuse Review, 24(3), 159–169.
- Merrick, M. T., et al. (2019). Vital signs: Estimated proportion of adult health problems attributable to adverse childhood experiences and implications for prevention. MMWR, 68(44), 999–1005.
- Peterson, C., et al. (2023). Economic burden of health conditions associated with adverse childhood experiences among US adults. JAMA Network Open, 6(12), e2346323.
- Sorensen, T., & Snow, B. (1991). How children tell: The process of disclosure in child sexual abuse. Child Welfare, 70(1), 3–15. Read the study abstract.
- Ullman, S. E. (2003). Social reactions to child sexual abuse disclosures: A critical review. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 12(1), 89–121. Read the research review.
- Ullman, S. E. (2007). Relationship to perpetrator, disclosure, social reactions, and PTSD symptoms in child sexual abuse survivors. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 16(1), 19–36. Read the study.
- Wisniewski, P., Ghosh, A. K., Xu, H., Rosson, M. B., & Carroll, J. M. (2017). Parental control vs. teen self-regulation: Is there a middle ground for mobile online safety? Proceedings of CSCW 2017.