Introduction. The violence is a intense, turbulent, or furious and often destructive action or force against other person. Excample of violence of children is a sexual abuse. Aim. The aim of my thesis was to indicate the level of knowledge of the general population, about the sexual abuse of adolescents. Also the level of knowledge about the support centres for these victims of injustice. Material and methods. The elaborated survey composed of thirty questions and the study enrolled 100 adults from Lodz. Results. 74% of the respondents understood the meaning of the term: ‘sexual abuse’, 46% of the people were aware that offenders did not have characteristics, 100% of the responders indicated the effects of the sexual abuse correctly and 62% of the people were well-versed with the reactions of sexually abused children. Respondents had advanced level of knowledge but they could not indicate institutions which helped the victims. Only 32% of the responders knew centres and 6% of the people could give the correct name of the National Helpline for Victims of Domestic Violence. The knowledge was gained via the Internet by 53%. 38% of the responders used books, newspapers, brochures. 8% of the people benefited from the advice of a psychologist, but only 1% of the respondents from a GP or a specialist. Conclusions. The level of general knowledge surveyed about sexual abuse is high, but they can not always correctly identify centers, which provide help to the victims. The victims rarely benefit from expert advice. More often people who have experienced violence, are aware that it is not their fault what happened. They can seek justice even after years.

Key words: sexual abuse of adolescents, sexual violence, awareness, knowledge, support.