There are several agencies in the country reporting child abuse statistics. These organizations are trying to track trends and find out ways to stop child abuse wherever possible. Child abuse statistics are used to determine where and to whom social resources should be directed.
For example, child abuse statistics state that four children in the US die every day as a result of child abuse. Three out of four were under the age of four. This number has been steadily rising over the years. This all means that there may need to be more resources like crisis nurseries for parents of children who are under the age of four. There may need to be more education on abuse when the parents take the baby home as so many young children are affected. Many experts feel like the rise in statistics is because of an increase in the population and an increase in reporting these cases.
Child abuse statistics also indicate that a report of child abuse is made every ten seconds. Perhaps there should be more call-in facilities for desperate parents who need relief from issues related to abusing their children. Such call-in centers could be anonymous and could offer crisis counseling for parents who just don’t know where to turn.
Somewhat surprising child abuse statistics state that children under the age of twelve years who are raped have perpetrators they know up to 90 percent of the time. Education for children can help give them the resources they need to tell someone about the abuse, especially cases where the abuse occurs over time. Having a counselor or trusted person at school to talk to would increase the chances that the child will tell his or her “secrets” to someone who can do something about it.
Child abuse statistics state that child abuse crosses ethnic, socioeconomic and religious lines. No group of people is exempt from child abuse. This may mean that religious figures must be aware of the possibility that someone in their congregation is having problems associated with abuse of their children. Emergency room doctors must be just as suspicious of a child of a well to do family having a broken bone as they do a child of poor parents.
Child abuse statistics affect adult as well. Up to 37% of female prison inmates and 14% of male prison inmates were once victims of child abuse. These rates are higher than the average population and it may indicate that child abuse promotes later illegal activity in adulthood.
Child abuse statistics state that children of sexual abuse are more than twice as likely that average to abuse alcohol. They are also more than 3.8 times likely to abuse drugs. In may mean that drug and alcohol abuse centers may need to deal with child sexual abuse issues before the person can really recover from their addiction issues.
Child abuse statistics inform us that a third of all abuse victims go on to abuse their own children. The cycle of abuse can only be stopped if people recover from their own issues before they have their own children.
