FAQ: What are the facts about child abuse?

• Children in the United States are more likely to be victimized violently in their own homes than on the streets. (Current Trends in Child Abuse Prevention, Reporting, and Fatalities: The 1997 Fifty State Survey. Chicago, IL: Prevent Child Abuse America, 1999)
• In 1997, 47 out of 1,000 children were reported abused or neglected and 15 out of 1,000 were confirmed as abused or neglected. (Current Trends in Child Abuse Prevention, Reporting, and Fatalities: The 1997 Fifty State Survey. Chicago, IL: Prevent Child Abuse America, 1999)
• Children under age 12 make up about one-quarter of all juvenile victims known to police and at least one-half of the juvenile victims of kidnaping and forcible sex offenses. Girls predominate as victims of sex offenses and kidnaping, but boys predominate as victims of all other crimes. (Characteristics of Crimes Against Juveniles. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2000)
• More than 70 percent of reported sex offenses involve juvenile victims. (Characteristics of Crimes Against Juveniles. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2000)
• Only 11 percent of the child victimizers in violent crimes are strangers. (Characteristics of Crimes Against Juveniles. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2000)

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