Citizens are encouraged to report suspected cases of abuse
Child Abuse: A National Epidemic
This information was prepared by National Children’s Alliance, May 2010.
According to a report released in May 2010 from United States Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families :
- Approximately 772,000 children were found to be victims of child maltreatment in 2008. 71.1% suffered neglect; 16.1% were physically abused; 9.1% were sexually abused; and 7.3% were psychologically maltreated (these figures only represent reported cases of abuse – literally thousands more go unreported each year).
- An estimated 1,740 children nationally died in 2008 as a result of child abuse or neglect; more than 79.8% of children who were killed were younger than 4 years old.
- The youngest children had the highest rate of victimization, with children ages birth to 1 years having the highest rates of victimization at 21.7 per 1,000 children of the same age group in the national population. More than one-half of the child victims were girls (51.3%) and 48.3% were male children.
- 80.1% of the perpetrators of child maltreatment were parents and another 6.5% were other relatives of the victim. Of the perpetrators who were parents, 90.9% were the biological parent of the victim.
Based on a survey conducted by the Crimes Against Children Research Center : - Just more than half of youth (530 per 1000) experienced a physical assault. The highest rate of physical assault victimization occurred between ages six and 12.
- One in 12 (82 of 1000) youth experienced sexual victimization, including sexual assault (32 per 1000) and attempted or completed rape (22 per 1000).
- Child maltreatment was experience by a little less than 1/7 of youth (138 per 1000). The study divided maltreatment into five categories (physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and family abduction) of which emotional abuse (name calling or denigration by an adult) was most frequent in occurrence.
Twenty percent of adult females and 5 to 10% of adult males recall a childhood sexual assault or sexual abuse incident.
Clark County CAC 2010 Statistics:
273 children served
246 sexual abuse cases
27 physical abuse cases*
- 165 identified alleged offenders
- 96.6% of the offenders were known to the child: parent, stepparent, other relative, parent’s boyfriend/girlfriend, other known person
- 69.6% of the offenders were age 18 or older
- 18% of the offenders were under age 18
Clark County’s 2011 Pinwheels for Prevention banner reads:
“In 2010, 3,716 adults advocated on behalf of Clark County children.
One Pinwheel. One Act of Kindness. One Healthy Family.”
The number 3,716 is the number of calls received to Clark County Intake for physical abuse, neglect, emotional maltreatment, medical neglect, sex abuse, dependency, Alternative Response, and family in need of service.
*CAC only takes severe physical abuse with “severe” related to the legal threshold for a felony charge. Family and Children Services received 1,091 reports of physical abuse and screened in 375.
