If a child feels he has to be
fearful all the time, it breeds cynicism and distrust. He'll tend to
see others as essentially bad. He may also become an adult who takes
no chances, which is very limiting-because without risk, he's not likely
to be successful in life. Fear in itself is a form of victimization.
- Jack
Levin, Ph.D., director of the Program for the Study of Violence at
Northwestern University in Boston as quoted in Redbook, February 1998
Recent studies show that
while the statistics on most other forms of violent crime are
dramatically decreasing, reports of child abuse and neglect have
risen since 1993. In fact, it is now believed that every day,
three children are killed as a result of abuse or neglect in
this country.
.- Prevent Child Abuse America,
2001
• An incident of child abuse is reported, on average, every l0 seconds. More than 2.9 million reports were made in 2003; the actual incidence is presumed to be much higher.
- A Month of Mental Health Facts: Prepared by the staff of the Child Study Center
© 2006 Child Study Center, NYU School of Medicine
• Children are more at risk of violence at home and on the streets than in school.
A Month of Mental Health Facts: Prepared by the staff of the Child Study Center
© 2006 Child Study Center, NYU School of Medicine
More than 3 million cases
of abuse and neglect were reported last year.
.- Prevent Child Abuse America, 2001
Children and adolescents have among the highest rates of conventional crime victimization and, in addition, suffer from some crimes - like sexual abuse and family abduction - specific to childhood. Despite enormous publicity about crime and youth, however, this high vulnerability is seldom mentioned. These facts and statistics about crimes against children are compiled from a variety of sources.
- Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire
Nearly 5 of every 6 sexual assaults
of young juveniles occurred in a residence. Crimes against older juveniles
and, especially, adults victims were far more likely to occur in other
places. Weapons other than the offender's hands and feet were rarely
used in the sexual assault of juveniles. The temporal pattern of sexual
assault show that unlike adults, young juveniles are at highest risk
of sexual assault in the hours when meals are served and after school.
-Sexual Assault of Young Children
as Reported to Law Enforcement, 7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice
The number one concern of children
is their personal safety.
.- ABC World News Tonight
1-3 Girls and 1-7 Boys under the age of 18 are sexually abused.
-1989 Report presented for Fed. Parliament
(RCMP) Jaclyn Mace @ Statistics Canada
Violent stranger abductions -
5 a year end in death or long term missing.
1989 Report presented for Fed. Parliament
(RCMP) Jaclyn Mace @ Statistics Canada
The abuse and neglect of America's young nearly doubled between 1986 and
1993.
-The Oakland Press, 9/19/96 from
a study by the Department of Health and Human Services
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates that
1.5 million children disappear, run away, are kidnapped or get kicked out of
their homes. If true, that staggering figure means that roughly 1 of every 42
youngsters is in danger.
-Time Magazine
Based on NIBRS data, crimes against
juvenile victims are the large majority (67%) of sexual assaults handled
by law enforcement agencies. One of every seven victims was under the
age of 6, and over a third of all sexual assaults involved a child
who was under the age of 12. This implies that by design the National
Crime Victimization Survey is missing over a third of all sexual assaults
that occur in the United States each year.
- Sexual Assault of Young Children
as Reported to Law Enforcement,
7/00, NCJ 182990, U.S. Department of Justice
An average of 5.5 children per 10,000 enrolled in day care are sexually
abused, an average of 8.9 children out of every 10,000 are abused in the home.
-Finkelhor & Willias, 1988
1 in every 3 to 4 girls is sexually abused before age 18 and 1 in 6 to
8 boys is sexually assaulted by the age of 18.
-Diana Russell Survey, 1978
3 in 4 child victims of violence were female.
-BJS Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991
A 1996 national incidence study conducted by the federal government found
that girls are sexually abused 3 times more often than boys.
-Sedlak, A and Broadhurst, D (1996)
Executive Summary of the Third National Incidence
Study of Child Abuse and Neglect
It is estimated that at least 20% of American women and 5-16% of American
men experienced some form of sexual abuse as children.
-Finkelhor, D (1994) Future of Children
Estimates suggest that males
account for 25-35% of child abuse victim.
- Finkelhor, D., 1994.
More than1/2 the violent crimes committed against children involved victims
age 12 or younger.
-BJS Survey of State Prison Inmates,
1991
Children between the ages of
12 and 17 are beaten, raped and robbed 5 times more often than adults
35 and older.
-The Arizona Rep. 3/30/97
The most vulnerable age for sexual abuse is between 7 and 13 years.
- Finkelhor, D., 1994
1 in 3 victims of physical abuse
is an infant less than a year old.
-The Carnegie Corporation of New
York
54% of sexually abused children are victimized before age 7, 84% before
age 12.
-Ernest E. Allen, President of the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 1991
Contrary to popular impressions, children aged 12 and up-particularly
teenagers-account for the vast majority of actual long-term child abductions
and murders, with numbers dramatically higher among children age 14 to 17 than
any other age group. Girls are twice as likely to be victims as boys in abduction
murders, and the chances that an abductor is a stranger increases with the victim's
age.
-Redbook, February 1998
42.9% of child assaults tool place in the victim's home, 41.8% in the
offender's home.
- Greenfield, 1996
75% of sexual abuse victims are
abused more than once.
-Conte and Schumerman, 1984
Research has shown that the absence of a parent from the home increases
the child's risk. In addition, interviews with perpetrators suggest that they
look for vulnerable children. Such children are young and appear to be isolated,
depressed or lonely.
-NCPCA 1996
The rate of sexual abuse among children with disabilities is 1.75 times
higher than among children without disabilities.
-National Center on Child Abuse and
Neglect, 1993
As many as 1 in 6 teens
admits there are places where they never feel safe, such as walking
to and from a friend's house or on public transportation.
-Louis Harris and Associates, Between
Hope and Fear: Teens Speak Out on Crime and the Community
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