The million dollar question would be: How many children are abused in the United States?
It has been pointed out that the incidence of child abuse and neglect has decreased nominally in recent years, more than 1.25 million; that brings you to 1 in 58 children in the United States, were abused in the year 2006. This staggering number has been solidly proven in the years since that.
61%, or more than half of the children (a total of 771,700) were victims of neglect. This means that a parent or guardian was unable to meet the child’s basic needs. This includes but is not limited to the most obvious food, shelter, clothing, and education. The top three facets of dropout include educational dropout (360,500 children), physical dropout (295,300 children), and emotional dropout (193,400 children).
About 44% of these statistics refer to children who were victims of abuse (553,300 children). This includes physical abuse (325,000 children), sexual abuse (135,000 children), and emotional abuse (145,500 children). A staggering average of nearly four children die each day as a result of child abuse or neglect; based on a study conducted in 2007. That yields a disturbing number of 1,760 children.
So the question here is, “Who is most likely to be abused or neglected among these children?” The truth is that no group of children is immune from being abused or neglected. Although girls are often more prone to physical abuse compared to boys, boys are not necessarily excluded from the equation entirely. For all other types of abuse or neglect, the statistics on the number of child victims are apparently the same.
Children of all races, ethnicities, or cultural backgrounds can be victims of child abuse. In fact, in 2007, nearly half of all victims of child abuse and neglect were Caucasian (46.1%), one-fifth were African-American (21.7%), and one-fifth were Hispanic (20.8%). %).
Although it has been commonly observed that children of all ages can experience abuse or neglect, it is generally the youngest children who are the most vulnerable and susceptible, with nearly 32% of children being abused or neglected by the age of four and below.
In 2007, more than half (57%) of all child abuse cases and reports made to CPS agencies came from professionals who were in contact with the child in question; this includes, but is not limited to, teachers, lawyers, police officers, and even social workers. This is primarily because many of these professionals are required by law to report suspected abuse or neglect. But the big question is what about the rest that doesn’t fall under the spectrum of said statistics?
Many reports (representing 26%) came from non-professional sources, such as parents, other relatives, friends, and neighbors. It has also been counted that anonymous reports constituted 7% of all reports in the year 2007.
Knowing and being able to identify the signs of child abuse and how to manage and report it should be considered a cause of great value. Everyone must be made to understand how important it is to share the responsibility to help keep children safe and to take the necessary precautions and steps to prevent child abuse from happening in the first place.