Keke Palmer Opens up About Being the Victim of Child-on-Child Molestation

Content warning: This article contains references to child molestation and related subject matters.

Celebrities are often expected to share every aspect of their lives once they strike it rich. They have followers and fans who devour every crumb of detail and pry into every private facet of their lives. But there are things that celebrities don't talk about. Secrets and old, hidden wounds that have been lurking under the surface long before their names went up in lights.

Such is the case for lauded actor Keke Palmer. Known for her roles in Akeelah and the Bee (2016), Animal (2014), Pimp (2018), Hustlers (2019), and Jordan Peele's Nope (2022), she's a successful actor who is healing from a past no one could have guessed. In a revealing new interview with People, Keke has opened up about being the victim and survivor of something known as "child-on-child sexual assault/molestation" (COCSA).

Child-on-child molestation or sexual assault is when a child is sexually assaulted by a perpetrator who is also a minor. In Keke's interview, she talked about how she didn't even know the depths of what had happened to her for a long time. COCSA is often brushed off as "kids exploring" or "kids being kids." And it can take victims a long time to come to terms with what they've experienced.

Keke said that it's relatively easy for COCSA to occur, especially among families, because children are often left alone together in a way adults and children might not necessarily be. She explained that you might not necessarily know what you went through until you read or see something about another person's experience and realize, "Hey, I felt like that."

She went on to add that children may be holding onto trauma that they don't realize.

Child sexual assault victims are overwhelmingly assaulted by people they know. According to Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN.org), 93 percent of perpetrators are known to the victim. Most people look to adults, which means that it can easily slip under the radar if a child has been molested by another child.

Additionally, kids are naturally curious, and there is a certain level of exploration that is normal. So parents who might not be well-versed in healthy body boundaries may not recognize when a child's boundaries have been violated and may not identify it as more than harmless curiosity.

As a result, victims of COCSA are often confused, unsupported, and struggling to name the feelings they live with that are due to a trauma no one has identified for them.

In the interview, Keke refers to a moment when she was 12 and read a story about sexual abuse, and it turned on a lightbulb in her brain, helping her understand the anxiety and hypersexuality she had been dealing with.

But once she realized what she had actually experienced, she knew that none of what she was struggling with was "her fault." Keke added that even if people haven't gone through what she has, "We all go through something." The no-holds-barred interview gives people a peek into the actor's struggles and triumphs as she became the successful "best self" star she is today.