The investigation by the provincial women's federation and court in two major cities in southern Guangdong province found that sexual assault on girls was the most frequent crime, the China Daily reported Tuesday. The probe found that sexual assault accounted for 75.34 percent among all crimes against girls. At least 2,506 girls under 18 were victims of sex crimes from 2008 to June 2011. The crimes included rape and forced prostitution. Over half of them -- 50.72 percent -- were younger than 14 years.

The perpetrators of these crimes were often neighbours, friends, relatives and teachers, police said. The attackers were mostly aged under 20 or above 50. Around 66 percent of the victims surveyed said they knew their attacker.