Throw away children: US child abuse down slightly, but fatalities up, new data show

US child abuse down slightly, but fatalities up, new data show

The number of U.S. children victimized by abuse and neglect has dropped for the sixth straight year, but child fatalities linked to maltreatment increased by nearly 4 percent, according to the latest federal data.

According to the annual report released Tuesday by the Department of Health and Human Services, the estimated number of victimized children in the 2012 fiscal year was 686,000, down from 688,000 in 2011 and 723,000 in 2007.

But the report found that fatalities attributable to child abuse and neglect increased from 1,580 in 2011 to 1,640 in 2012.

·       A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds

·       More than four children die every day as a result of child abuse. 

·       It is estimated that between 50-60% of child fatalities due to maltreatment are not recorded as such on death certificates.

·       Approximately 80% of children that die from abuse are under the age of 4.

·       More than 90% of juvenile sexual abuse victims know their perpetrator in some way.

·       Child abuse occurs at every socioeconomic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions and at all levels of education.

·       About 30% of abused and neglected children will later abuse their own children, continuing the horrible cycle of abuse.

·       In at least one study, about 80% of 21 year olds that were abused as children met criteria for at least one psychological disorder.

·       The estimated annual cost of child abuse and neglect in the United States for 2008 is $124 billion.