SHOCKING FACTS ABOUT CHILD ABUSE:

More than five children die from abuse and neglect every day in America – some 2,500 a year– reflecting the estimated 50 percent under-counting in the officially estimated figure of 1,560. A child is abused or neglected every 10 seconds in the United States, yet only 40 percent of abused children with substantiated cases receive services, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

– In 2008, one out of every 601.4 children were victims of physical abuse

– 2.34 children out of 100,000 die from injuries relating to their abuse

– For every incident of child abuse or neglect that gets reported, two go unreported

– Neglect is by far the most common form of child abuse: 78% of all cases

– Physical abuse accounts for 17.8% of documented child abuse cases each year

– A third of all girls(1/3) and a sixth of boys(1/6) are sexually abused before age 17

– 8 out of 10 sexual abusers are someone in the family or someone the child knows

– Abused children are more likely to abuse alcohol/drugs

– One third abused children will later abuse their own children

– 84% prison inmates were abused as children

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CHILD ABUSE STATISTICS

DID YOU KNOW?

*1 in every 3 girls will be sexually molested before the age of 18

*1 in every 6 boys will be sexually molested before the age of 18

*Every 10 SECONDS a child is abused, raped or killed in the U.S.

*Today up to 5 children will die from abuse or neglect

*In 13 seconds, another child will be abused in the U.S

*There were 2.9 million child abuse reports made in 1992

*ONLY 28% of the children identified as harmed by abuse are investigated

*Boys are at a greater risk of serious injury and of emotional neglect than are girls

*85% of the 1.2 – 1.5 million runaways are fleeing abuse at home

*80% of perpetrators are parents

*Children in mother-only households are 4 times more likely to be fatally abused

*The median age was 30 years for women and 33 years for men

*Today 6 children will commit suicide

*Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death (ages 15-24)

*Untreated child abuse increases the likelihood of arrest for a violent crime by 38 percent

*60 MILLION survivors are former victims of child sexual abuse in America today

*71 % of child sex offenders are under the age of 35
*38% of women & 20% of men have been sexually abused during adolescence

*It is estimated that 3%-6% of the clergy population has abused a child

*The typical child sex offender molests an average of 117 children–

most of whom do not report the offense

DRAMATIC INCREASE IN STATISTICS:

**Abuse and Neglect of American Children Has Increased 134% Since 1980

**Physical Abuse Has Increased 84% Since 1980

**Sexual Abuse Has Increased 350% Since 1980

**Emotional Abuse Has Increased 333% Since 1980

**Child Neglect Abuse Has Increased 320% Since 1980

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Who Are The Victims?

• 48.5% of abused children are boys
• 51.2% of abused children are girls
• 44.8% of abused children are white race
• 21.9% of abused children are African American race
• 21.4% of abused children are Hispanic race

WHO REPORTS THE ABUSE?

• 16.4% of reports were from professional sources (teachers, etc)
• 16.7% of reports were from law enforcement and legal personnel
• 11.5% of reports were from social services staff
• 8.2% of reports were from medical personnel
• 9% anonymous
• 6.8% parents
• 4.4% friends/neighbors

HOW WERE THE REPORTED CASES HANDLED?

• 3.3 million reports of child abuse in 2010 — estimated to include 5.9 million children
• 60.7% were investigated by CPS
• 63.5% of cases investigated were determined unsubstantiated-not enough evidence
• 36% of victims and 13.7% of non-victims were placed in foster care
• 14.8% of victims were assigned to Court-appointed representatives.

HOW MANY CHILD FATALITIES?

• 32.6% child fatalities due to neglect
• 40.8% child fatalities due to multiple maltreatment
• 22.9% of fatalities were caused by physical abuse
• 1.5% of fatalities were caused by Medical neglect
• 60-85% percent of child deaths resulting from abuse or neglect are not recorded as such do to the lack of comprehensive investigations
• 80% of child abuse fatalities are children 4 and under.
• Almost 5 children die every day as a result of child abuse– three out of four are under the age of 4.
• Less than 1% of child abuse fatalities happen in Foster Care.

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SHOCKING FACTS:

**The safest family for a child is a home in which the biological parents are married.

**Cohabitation, an increasing phenomenon, is a major factor in child abuse.

**The incidence of child abuse decreases significantly as family income increases.

**Child abuse frequently is inter-generational.

**Child abuse is prevalent in “communities of abuse” with family breakdown.

**Child abuse is directly associated with serious violent crime.

**The lowest risk ratio for abuse is one in which the biological parents are married and the family has always been intact.

**Abuse is 6x’s higher in the second-safest environment: the blended family in which the divorced mother has remarried.

**Abuse is 14x’s higher if the child is living with a biological mother who lives alone.

**Abuse is 20x’s higher if the child is living with a biological father who lives alone.

**Abuse is 20x’s higher if the child is with biological parents who are not married but are cohabiting.

**Abuse is 33x’s higher if the child is living with a mother who is living with a man.

** 1,500 children die from abuse each year.

**There are 140,000 injuries to children from abuse each year.

**There are 1.7 million reports of child abuse each year.

** 1 in 4 women in North America were molested in childhood.

**2 million+ cases of child abuse and neglect are reported each year in the U.S.

**An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 new cases of sexual abuse occur each year.

**There were an estimated 903,000 victims of maltreatment nationwide.

**An estimated 1,100 children died of abuse and neglect, a rate of approximately 1.6

**1 in 7 males will have been sexually molested before the age of 18.

**10 deaths per 100,000 children per year in the general populations.

**Each day in the U.S. more than 3 children die as a result of child abuse in the home.

**Child abuse is reported on average every 10 seconds.

**Approximately 3 MILLION child abuse reports are made each year.

**Only two-thirds of the reported cases were investigated.

**An estimated 903,000 victims were substantiated by child protective services agencies in 1998.

**Convicted rape and sexual assault offenders report that 2/3 of their victims were under18.

**Among rape victims less than 12 yo, 90% of the children knew the offender

**Frequently, the person who sexually molests a child is also a child themselves…

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NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE STATISTICS

*Since 1990, 10,000+ American children have died at the hands of their parents or caretakers.

* Four children die every day in this country from child abuse and neglect.

* In 2000, over 3 million children were reported as abused or neglected in the U.S.

*80 percent of violent juvenile and adult prisoners were raised in violent homes.

* One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before the age 18.

* Abused children are 25 times more likely to repeat a grade.

* 75 percent of high school dropouts have a history of abuse in their families.

*45 percent of abused children become adult alcoholics.

* Survivors of abuse are six times more likely to become abusive parents.

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Cost of Child Abuse in the United States

The estimated annual cost of child abuse and neglect in the United States for 2011 is $124 BILLION

Family Structure Correlation

Single parent households were at higher risk of abuse

• 87% greater risk of being harmed by neglect
• 77% greater risk of being harmed by physical abuse
• 74% greater risk of being harmed by emotional abuse
• 220% (or more than three times) greater risk of being educationally neglected
• 80% greater risk of suffering serious injury or harm from abuse or neglect
• 90% greater risk of receiving moderate injury or harm as a result of child maltreatment
• 120% (or more than two times) greater risk of being endangered by some type of child abuse or neglect.

• Among children in single-parent households, those living with only their fathers were approximately one and two-thirds times more likely to be physically abused than those living with only their mothers.

 

Income Related Child Abuse Statistics

Family income was significantly related to incidence rates in nearly every category of maltreatment. Compared to children whose families earned $30,000 per year or more, those in families with annual incomes below $15,000 per year were:

• more than 22 times more likely to experience some form of maltreatment under the Harm Standard and over 25 times more likely to suffer maltreatment of some type using the Endangerment Standard;
• 15 times more likely to be harmed by abuse
• 44 times more likely to be neglected
• 16 times more likely to be a victim of physical
• 18 times more likely to be sexually abused
• 29 times more likely to be emotionally abused
• 56 times more likely to be educationally neglected
• 60 times more likely to die from maltreatment of some type
• 31 times more likely to be considered endangered, although not yet injured, by some type of abusive or neglectful treatment.

*Note that there are a number of problems associated with poverty that may contribute to child maltreatment: more transient residence, poorer education, and higher rates of substance abuse and emotional disorders. Moreover, families at the lower socioeconomic levels have less adequate social support systems to assist parents in their child care responsibilities.

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RECIDIVISM RATES:

Overall, follow-up studies typically find sexual recidivism rates of 10%-15% after five years, 20% after 10 years, and 30%-40% after 20 years ( Hanson, Morton, & Harris, 2003). Researchers in a 1999 study (Ahlmeyer, English, and Simons) found that, through polygraph examinations, the number offenders who “crossed over” age groups of victims is extremely high. The study revealed that before polygraph examinations, 6 percent of a sample of incarcerated sex offenders had both child and adult victims, compared to 71 percent after polygraph exams. Thus, caution must be taken in placing sex offenders in exclusive categories. Marshall and Barbaree (1990) found in their review of studies that the recidivism rate for specific types of offenders varied:

• Incest offenders ranged between 4 and 10 percent.
• Rapists ranged between 7 and 35 percent.
• Child molesters with female victims ranged between 10 and 29 percent.
• Child molesters with male victims ranged between 13 and 40 percent.

The vast majority of sex offenses are never reported. For instance, the National Women’s Study surveyed a representative sample of over 4,000 adult women in the United States . Three hundred forty-one (8.5%) of these women were victims of at least one rape prior to the age of 18; however, only 11.9% of these women reported the rape to authorities (Hanson et al., 1990). And it must be remembered, of the few offenses reported, an even smaller number result in convictions.

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* There are an estimated 77 million kids online today.

* There are over 40,000 chat rooms where children can meet child predators.

* Pedophiles lure kids in, with games and establish relationships with them on-line, then arrange to meet.

* 75% of children are willing to share personal information online about themselves and their family in exchange for goods and/or services.  (gifts, free samples, free online games, etc.)

* Chat rooms and instant/private messages are two main tools pedophiles use to contact children on-line. Online child pornography/child sex exploitation is the most significant crime problem confronting the FBI that involves crimes against children.

* There is a 100% chance of a child meeting a predator in a chat room. (FBI 2002)

Children are reported missing into the FBI computer program system at the rate of:
* 825,600 kids per year
* 68,800 kids per month
* 16,100 kids per week
* 2,300 kids per day
* 96 kids per hour
* 3 kids every 2 minutes

(SOURCE: –Statistics provided by the Crimes Against Children Research Center 1/2003–)

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Characteristics of Child Sexual Abuse Victims

U. S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics has combined a study of characteristics among those child victims of convicted sex offenders and child molesters. These statistics are based on the reports of offenders in the Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities, and include the following:

— 3 out of 4 children who were victimized were female.
— 1/3 of the convicted offenders had committed a crime against their own child.
— About 50% of the convicted offenders had a relationship with the child, either through friends or family.
— Only 1 out of 7 inmates reported that their child victim was a stranger.
— 4 out of 10 child victims suffered forcible rape or another injury from child molesters.

Characteristics of Child Sex Offenders

The following statistics were taken from the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities concerning the characteristics of offenders who commit violent crimes against children. They include the following:

— More than 3/4 of violent crimes against children occurred in the offender’s home.
— More than 50% of the negligent manslaughter offenders’ crimes occurred in a public place, such as a park or a street.
— 8 out of 10 crimes by convicted sex offenders/molesters in their own homes were forcible rapes or sexual assaults.
— Only 1 in 7 offenders reported using a weapon to perpetrate the offense against the child victim.
— 40% of the child victims of convicted offenders suffered forcible, rape, injury or death as a result of the crime.

Characteristics of Offenders Who Victimize Children

According to the Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities by the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, the following statistics have been recorded concerning the characteristics of offenders who violate and assault children.

— Those inmates who were convicted of committing violent acts against children were more like to have been white, a percentage of nearly 70%, than any other race.
— White inmates were nearly 3x’s more likely to have victimized a child than black inmates.
— About 1 in every 7 Hispanic convicts had been convicted for a crime against a child.
— Nearly 2/3 of convicted child molesters and/or offenders were or had been married.
— Child molesters and offenders were more likely to have grown up in a two parent home.
— Approximately 22% of child offenders reported having been sexually abused as a child.

Pedophiles Becoming An Epidemic

According to Dr. Herbert Wagemaker, a renowned psychiatrist and author, pedophilia appears to run in families. In fact, statistics show that boys who suffered molestation often grow up and commit the same type of crime. The following statistics might surprise some readers:

— 4% of today’s population suffers from a sexual orientation focused on children
— In 1999, more than 93,000 children were reported/confirmed as being sexually abused.
— Of those 93,000 cases, 50% of them were committed by the parents, and another 18% were relatives.

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Rape Statistics

• Near all forcible rapes (99%) involved female victim.
-Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice

• Females were the large majority of victims in incidents of forcible fondling (82%).
-Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice

• In the later juvenile years (ages 14 to 17), the female victimization rates are at least 10 times greater than the male rates for similar age groups.
-Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice

• Overall, 23% of sexual assault offenders were under the 18 and 77% were adults.
-Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice

• Nearly all the offenders in sexual assaults reported to law enforcement were male (96%).
-Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice

• Most (70%) of the sexual assaults reported to law enforcement occurred in the residence of the victim, the offender, or the residence of another individual. Young victims were generally more likely to be victimized in a residence than were older victims. The age of the victim was strongly relate to where the assault occurred.
-Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice

• The year in a male’s life when he is most likely to be the victim of a sexual assault is age 4.
-Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice

• The risk of being the victim of forcible rape increased dramatically form age 10 to age 14, where it peaked.
-Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice

• Over two-thirds (67%) of all victims of sexual assault reported to law enforcement agencies, were juveniles (under the age fo 18 at the time of the crime). More than half of all juvenile victims were under age 12. That is, 33% of all victims of sexual assault reported to law enforcement were ages 12 through 17 and 34% were under age 12. Most disturbing is that one of every seven victims of sexual assault ( or 14% of all victims) reported to law enforcement agencies were under age 6.
-Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement,
7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice

• 4 in 10 child victims of violence suffered either a forcible rape or another injury.
-BJS Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991.

• About 80% of rape victims were under age 30–about 1/2 of these were under age 18. Victims younger than 12 accounted for 15% of those raped, and another 29% of rape victims were between 12 and 17.
-National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

• For nearly 90% of the youngest victims of rape, those younger than 12, the offender was someone known to them.
-National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

• 94% of child rape victims under the age of 12 were abused by a family member or an acquaintance/friend.
-The Arizona Rep. 3/30/97.

• Victims of rape were about evenly divided between whites and blacks: in about 88% of forcible rapes, the victim and offender were of the same race.
-National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

• Just over 40% of the rapists were age 30 or older, while 1 in 8 was under age 18. In 9 out of 10 rapes in which the offender was under 18, so was the victim.
-National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

• Somewhere in America, a woman is raped every 2 minutes.
– U.S. Department of Justice.

• In 1996, 307,000 women were the victim of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
[National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1997.]

• Between 1995 and 1996, more than 670,000 women were the victim of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
[National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1997.]

• In 1996, only 31% of rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law enforcement officials – less than one in every three.
[National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1997.]

• Approximately 68% of rape victims knew their assailant.
[Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]

• Approximately 28% of victims are raped by husbands or boyfriends, 35% by acquaintances, and 5% by other relatives.
[Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]

• One of every four rapes take place in a public area or in a parking garage.
[Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]

• 29% of female victims reported that the offender was a stranger.
[Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]

• 68% of rapes occur between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
[Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]

• At least 45% of rapists were under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
[Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]

• In 29% of rapes, the offender used a weapon.
[Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]

• In 47% of rapes, the victim sustained injuries other than rape injuries.
[Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]

• 75% of female rape victims require medical care after the attack.
[Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]

• In 1995, local child protective service agencies identified 126,000 children who were victims of either substantiated or indicated sexual abuse; of these, 75% were girls. Nearly 30% of child victims were between the ages of 4 and 7.
– Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Child Maltreatment, 1995.

• Approximately one-third of all juvenile victims of sexual abuse cases are children younger than 6 years of age.
– Violence and the Family. Report of the American Psychological Association Presidential
Task Force on Violence and the Family, 1996.

• According to the Justice Department, one in two rape victims is under age 18; one in six is under age 12.
– Child Rape Victims, 1992. U.S. Department of Justice.

• About 81% of rape victims are white; 18% are black; 1% are of other races.
– Violence against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.

• While 9 out of 10 rape victims are women, men and boys are also victimized by this crime. In 1995, 32,130 males age 12 and older were victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
– National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996.

• Teens 16 to 19 were three and one-half times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
– National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996.

• Those with a household income under $7,500 were twice as likely as the general population to be victims of a sexual assault.
– National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996

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Child abuse statistics from NCANDS and Child Maltreatment Reports. A child is classified as a victim and included in this file if maltreatment is substantiated or indicated. In addition to basic information concerning the report and the child, this child victims file also contains information about the type of maltreatment, the support services provided to the family, and any special problems that were identified for the child, caretaker, or family.

VIEW NCANDS SITE HERE

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Child Abuse & Neglect Statistics

CLICK HERE FOR 2011 CHILD ABUSE STATISTICS

CLICK HERE FOR 2010 CHILD ABUSE STATISTICS

These resources present statistics and data on the different types of abuse and neglect as well as the abuse and neglect of children with disabilities, abuse and neglect in out-of-home care, recurrence, and fatalities.

Because time is needed to compile, analyze, and publish data, statistical publications often are released 2 or more years after the time period being analyzed. Information Gateway makes every effort to ensure the resources provided are the most current statistics available.

• National and State statistics
• Neglect
• Physical abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Abuse and neglect of children with disabilities
• Abuse and neglect in out-of-home care
• Recurrence
• Fatalities
• State and local examples