Abuse experienced in childhood can leave a range of long-term harmful effects in adulthood. However, little is known about how survivors of early sexual abuse perceive interpersonal touch. The Promoting Empathy and Affiliation in Relationships (PEAR) Study examined this question in a sample of parents of young children (n = 412), who responded to the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (including whether they had experienced sexual abuse before the age of 18). Participants then viewed 14 short greyscale videos depicting interpersonal touch, half with a positive valence (e.g. hugging, holding hands) and half with a negative valence (e.g. hitting, pushing). After each video, participants rated the pleasantness of the touch and how affected they felt by the video. Compared to those without a history of early abuse, survivors demonstrated a higher likelihood of giving atypical ratings of affectedness in response to positive touch (p = 0.028). No differences emerged between groups for affectedness ratings on videos with negative valence. On the dimension of pleasantness, survivors were more likely to respond with an atypical rating for both negative and positive videos (p = 0.041). Our results suggest that survivors of early sexual abuse may display altered sensitivity to interpersonal touch, specifically in response to stimuli that is intended to be positive. Understanding these variations in touch perception can provide valuable insights for trauma-informed clinical interventions that target interpersonal functioning and social well-being in survivors.