There is no universal definition of child sexual abuse. However, a central characteristic of any abuse is the dominant position of an adult that allows him or her to force or coerce a child into sexual activity. Child sexual abuse may include fondling a child’s genitals, masturbation, oral-genital contact, digital penetration, and vaginal and anal intercourse. Child sexual abuse is not solely restricted to physical contact; such abuse could include noncontact abuse, such as exposure, voyeurism, and child pornography. Abuse by peers also occurs.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.apa.org/pubs/info/brochures/sex-abuse.aspx

BREAKING THE SILENCE

In response to the recently aired investigative news report on child abuse fatalities in the United States by the BBC, I want to call attention to the importance of child advocacy in the U.S. This issue deserves our attention now more than ever before. This multimedia, 22-minute story, entitled “America’s Death Shame,” began airing Monday, Oct. 17 on BBC World News affiliates, including PBS and NPR stations in most American cities. The focus of the broadcast is on the magnitude of child abuse — and particularly child-abuse-related deaths — in America.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/teresa-huizar/child-abuse-america_b_1025890.html

MORE STATISTICS HERE:

https://dreamcatchersforabusedchildren.com/abuse/statistics/

http://www.haltnow.ca/abuse/child-abuse/190-statistic-of-child-abuse.html

It’s nearly unthinkable, but every year thousands of children become victims of crime—whether it’s through kidnappings, violent attacks, or sexual abuse.

The mission of the FBI’s Crimes Against Children Program is threefold: first, to decrease the vulnerability of children to sexual exploitation; second, to develop a nationwide capacity to provide a rapid, effective, and measured investigative response to crimes against children; and third, to enhance the capabilities of state and local law enforcement investigators through programs, investigative assistance, and task force operations.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/vc_majorthefts/cac

Why is the problem of violence against children so much more acute in the US than anywhere else in the industrialised world, asks Michael Petit, President of Every Child Matters. Over the past 10 years, more than 20,000 American children are believed to have been killed in their own homes by family members. That is nearly four times the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15193530

An investigation is to be launched today to pin down the full extent of sexual exploitation, predatory grooming and abuse of children by gangs. Thousands of children are feared to be caught up in the abuse with figures suggesting 10,000 may be affected in England, but some research points to the problem being far worse.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/rise-of-child-sex-gangs-prompts-major-study-2370465.html

Large government agencies with vital missions, such as the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, can run properly only on the strength of selfless work, courageous leadership, responsible oversight — and data. Managers and policymakers need accurate, consistent and complete statistics, and they need to demonstrate that they have chosen the right outcomes to measure. Otherwise, there is no way for them, or the public, to know whether they are succeeding.

READ MORE HERE

Statistics

Find reports, databases, and other sources of statistics and demographic data on children and families in the United States, child abuse and neglect, child welfare services, children and youth in foster care, and domestic and international adoption.

READ MORE HERE

• Statistics on child and family well-being
• Child abuse and neglect statistics
• Child welfare/foster care statistics
• Adoption statistics
• Related statistics and demographic data

A Critical Analysis of the Current State of Knowledge and a Research Agenda

Among children under age 5 years in the United States who were murdered in the last quarter of the 20th century, 61% were killed by their own parents: 30% were killed by their mothers, and 31% by their fathers. Estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 1994 indicated that homicide was the fourth leading cause of death for preschool children and the third leading cause of death among children from ages 5–14years. In the United States, the incidence of homicide of children less than 1 year old has increased over the past quarter-century.

READ MORE HERE:

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/162/9/1578

Law Enforcement, Courts, & Prisons: Crimes and Crime Rates

Crimes and Crime Rates by Type of Offense, Crime Rates by State, Crime Rates by Type, Murder Victims by Age, Sex and Race, Homicide Trends, Forcible Rape–Number and Rate, Violent Crime Between Intimate Partners by Sex of Victims, Hate Crimes–Number of Incidents, Offenses, Victims, and Known Offenders by Bias Motivation, etc.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/law_enforcement_courts_prisons/crimes_and_crime_rates.html

The sexual victimization of children involves varied and diverse dynamics. It can range from one-on-one intro-familial abuse to multi-offender/multi-victim extra-familial sex rings and from non-family abduction of toddlers to prostitution of teenagers. Sexual victimization of children can run the gamut of “normal” sexual acts from fondling to intercourse. The victimization can also include deviant sexual behavior involving more unusual conduct (e.g., urination, defecation, playing dead) that often goes unrecognized, including by statutes, as possibly being sexual in nature. There are, therefore, no step-by-step, rigid investigative standards that are applicable to every case or circumstance. Investigative approaches and procedures have to be adjusted based on the dynamics of the case. Larger law-enforcement agencies tend to have more specialized investigative units that investigate the different types of cases. One unit might investigate intra-familial, child-abuse cases; another might investigate missing-, abducted-, or murdered-children cases; and another might investigate extra-familial, sexual-exploitation cases. Offenders, however, sometimes cross these investigative categories. For example a father might produce and distribute child pornography images of his own child or might molest other children in addition to his own. Investigators have to be trained and prepared to address these diverse realities.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/publications/NC70.pdf

At least 75% of Children in Foster Care will Be Sexually Abused

As many as 75 percent of all children in foster care, upon leaving the system, will have experienced sexual abuse. One study by Johns Hopkins University found that the rate of sexual abuse within the foster-care system is more than four times as high as in the general population; in group homes, the rate of sexual abuse is more than 28 times that of the general population. These statistics do not speak to the situation these children are coming from, but it does show the very large problem of child-on-child sexual abuse within the system.

READ MORE HERE:

http://protectingourchildrenfrombeingsold.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/at-least-75-of-children-in-foster-care-will-be-sexually-abused-in-the-system/

Child abuse and neglect, or, more generically, child maltreatment, is a pervasive problem facing children and families throughout the world. In the United States, approximately 905,000 children were found to have been maltreated in 2006, most of whom (66.3%) were neglected. Sixteen percent were physically abused, 8.8% were sexually abused, and 6.6% were psychologically or emotionally abused.  These various forms of child maltreatment can result in many long-term physical and emotional consequences, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

READ MORE HERE:

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/916007-overview

A review of Utah homicides between January 2002 and December 2007 found an 83 percent conviction rate for suspects charged with adult homicides. Among suspects in child abuse homicide cases, researchers calculated a conviction rate of 88.2 percent. “Suspects of child abuse homicide are convicted at a rate similar to that of suspects of adult homicide and receive similar levels of felony conviction and severity of sentencing,” the authors wrote.

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705391871/Conviction-rates-for-child-abuse-homicide-adult-homicide-strikingly-similar-U-pediatricians.html

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:

http://www.ndacan.cornell.edu/ndacan/Datasets/Abstracts/DatasetAbstract_NCANDS_General.html

How tourists can help stop child sex trafficking

When U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas said last week that 40 percent of foreign men who visited the Philippines were sex tourists, local authorities were quick to play down the issue, arguing the statistic was unsubstantiated. While the veracity of the figure may be in question, there is no disputing that sex trafficking remains a pressing issue worldwide.