US Has Highest Rate Of Child Death By Abuse Worldwide By Far

A new report shows that child abuse and neglect kill more children in the United States than in any other industrialized nation — five every day.

Every Child Matters Education Fund President Michael Petit wrote that the report should be a wake-up call.”This is a report sure to sadden — and perhaps to anger. How could it be otherwise when we look at the innocent faces of children whose lives were cut short by abuse or neglect?” wrote Petit.The report, We Can Do Better: Child Abuse and Neglect Deaths in America, was released by the Every Child Matters Education Fund. It found that at least 10,440 American children died from abuse or neglect between 2001 and 2007. The report noted that the number of children killed could top 15,660, but poor record keeping could have missed many deaths.The report was the first survey of its kind to examine the issue state-by-state and noted the states with the highest rate of deaths due to abuse and neglect.In 2007, Kentucky took the grim No. 1 spot with 41 deaths, a rate of just over 4 in 100,000 children. Other states near the top were South Dakota, Florida, Nebraska and Missouri.States with the lowest rate of child death in 2007 — the latest year for which data is available — were Delaware, Rhode Island, Idaho, Maine and Montana.Of the 721, 646 children confirmed abused and neglected nationwide in 2007:

60 percent did not receive proper food, clothing, shelter, hygiene, education, medical care or protection.

13 percent suffered from multiple maltreatments.

11 percent were physically abused.

8 percent were sexually abused.

4 percent suffered from emotional abuse.

1 percent suffered from medical neglect.

4 percent suffered from other mistreatment such as abandonment, threats, and congenital drug addiction.

50 percent or more of child abuse and neglect cases are associated with alcohol or drug abuse by parents.

Every Child Matters Education Fund

Compared with other rich countries, the United States child death rate is off the scale. The U.S. rate is three times higher than Canada’s and 11 times higher than Italy’s. The closest to the U.S. rate is France with 1.4 children out of 100,000 dying due to abuse or neglect — 2.4 out of 100,000 die in America.Petit said states with high rates of child death should take note and take action.”Much can be done to reduce these child abuse and neglect deaths. There exists a vast body of knowledge about healthy child growth and development, including how to prevent abuse in the first place,” wrote Petit. His preface to the report went on to say that “…despite the best efforts of the many who work daily to address this problem, we continue to fall far short in applying our knowledge.”The report said that there are many, many reasons the United States has such a high rate of child deaths compared to the rest of the world including overworked child protection workers and a lack of public awareness.The Every Child Maters Education Fund called on lawmakers to strengthen federal standards, increase funding and create more public awareness across the board.