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CHILD MALTREATMENT

  • Child protective services across the country found an estimated 896,000 children to be victims of maltreatment (neglect or abuse).8

  • Sixty-one percent of child maltreatment victims suffered neglect; 19 percent were physically abused; 10 percent were sexually abused; and 7 percent were emotionally or psychologically maltreated.  In addition, 18.9 percent of victims experienced  "other" types of maltreatment such as "abandonment," "threats of harm to the child," and "congenital drug addiction."9

  • Fifty-two percent of child maltreatment victims were girls and 48 percent were boys.10

  • More than one-half of all child victims were white (54 percent); one-quarter (26 percent) were African-American; and one-tenth (11 percent) were Hispanic. American Indians or Alaska Natives accounted for 2 percent of victims, and Asian-Pacific Islanders accounted for 1 percent of victims.11

  • Approximately 40 percent of child victims were maltreated solely by their mothers; another 19 percent were maltreated solely by their fathers; 18 percent were abused by both parents. Child victims abused by a non-parental perpetrator accounted for 13 percent of the total.12

  • The youngest children (from birth through age 3) were the most likely to experience recurring maltreatment.13

  • Children abused by someone other than a parent were 16 percent less likely to experience recurrence than children who were abused by their mother.14

  • Victimization rates are inversely proportional to the age of the child--the older the child, the less likely he or she is to be maltreated.15

  • In 2002, an estimated 1,400 children died due to child abuse or neglect.16

  • Five percent of child molesters released from prison commit a new sex offense within three years of their release.17

  • Twenty-nine children were murdered by their babysitters in 2003.18

  • Victims of child abuse comprised 21 percent of the recipients of crime victim compensation in 2003.19

  • The most significant predictor of whether a battered woman will physically abuse her child is having been physically abused by her own mother-not being battered by her partner.20


    8 Children's Bureau.  (2004).  Child Maltreatment. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Online: http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cm02.

    9 Ibid.

    10 Ibid.

    11 Ibid.

    12 Ibid.

    13 Ibid.

    14 Ibid.

    15 Ibid.

    16 Ibid.

    17 Langan et al.  (2003).  Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice.  Online: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/rsorp94.pdf.

    18 Federal Bureau of Investigation.  (2004).  Crime in the United States, 2003.  Washington, DC: Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice. Online: http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_03/pdf/03sec1.pdf.

    19 National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards. (2004). "Compensation to Victims Continues to Increase."  Alexandria, VA: NACVCB. Online: http://www.nacvcb.org.

    20 Coohey, C.  (2004).  "Battered mothers who physically abuse their children."  Journal of Interpersonal Violence 19 (8).

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