11 Facts About Child Abuse

  1. In 2005, 12.1 of every 1,000 American children, almost 900,000 in all, suffered abuse by adults, with parents of victims accounting for almost 80% of abusers.
  2. Every day, about four children die in the U.S. because of abuse or neglect, most of them babies or toddlers.
  3. For every incident of child abuse or neglect that gets reported, it’s estimated that two others go unreported.
  4. Neglect is by far the most common form of child abuse, accounting for more than 60% of all cases.
  5. Physical abuse accounts for between 15% and 20% of documented child abuse cases each year.
  6. A third of all girls and a fifth of boys are sexually abused by an adult during childhood.
  7. 8 out of 10 sexual abusers are someone in the family or someone the child knows.
  8. About 10% of babies are born to drug-using mothers.
  9. Of kids who have a parent who uses drugs, one in 13 is physically abused regularly.
  10. Abused children are more likely to abuse alcohol and become addicted to drugs, and one third will later abuse their own children.
  11. Of all prison inmates, 84% were abused as children.

Sources
Baltimore County
Way 2 Hope Home
Child Abuse.com
Child Welfare League of America
Child Help