Sometimes we need to face the raw facts to grasp the true brutality that our nation is up against. To many people, child abuse and neglect is one of the most serious concerns of world. While some individual’s face this harsh reality every day, few people truly understand the impact of child abuse. It’s time to face the facts:
1. During 2007, an estimated 794,000 children were determined to be victims of abuse or neglect.
2. Children in the age group of birth to 1 year had the highest rate of victimization at 21.9 per 1,000 children of the same age group in the national population
3. More than one-half of the child victims were girls (51.5%) and 48.2 percent were boys
4. Approximately one-half of all victims were White (46.1%), 21.7 percent were African-American, and 20.8 percent were Hispanic.
5. An estimated 1,760 children died due to child abuse or neglect
6. The overall rate of child fatalities was 2.35 deaths per 100,000 children
7. More than 30 percent (34.1%) of child fatalities were attributed to neglect only; physical abuse also was a major contributor to child fatalities
8. More than three-quarters (75.7%) of the children who died due to child abuse and neglect were younger than 4 years old
9. Infant boys (younger than 1 year) had the highest rate of fatalities, at 18.85 deaths per 100,000 boys of the same age in the national population; and
10. Infant girls had a rate of 15.39 deaths per 100,000 girls of the same age.
11. In 2007, nearly 80 percent of perpetrators of child maltreatment (79.9%) were parents, 6.6% were other relatives of the victim. Nearly all perpetrators were younger than the age of 40.
12. Women comprised a larger percentage of all perpetrators than men.
13. Nearly 60 percent (59.0%) of victims suffered neglect;
14. More than 10 percent (10.8%) of the victims suffered physical abuse;
15. Less than 10 percent (7.6%) of the victims suffered sexual abuse;
16. Less than 5 percent (4.2%) of the victims suffered from psychological maltreatment.
All information found here was found through U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Child Maltreatment 2007 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2009). Find more of their Child Abuse Statistics here.
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