D. Corwin (1990) cites that in London many believed that sexual 'congress' with a child would cure venereal disease. Of capital rape prosecutions between 1730 and 1729, 25% of the cases involved victims younger than 10 years old. 62% of females are sexually abused by age 18. Finkelhor, David and J. Dziuba-Leatherman. "Victimization of Children." American Psychologist Vol. 49:3 (1992): 173-183. 1896 in The Aetiology of Hysteria, Freud discusses his "Seduction Theory" acknowledging the sexual abuse and incest of children. 31% of males are sexually abused by age 18. Ibid. More than 60 million adult survivors of incest and sexual child abuse live in America. *Note these are only reported cases. It is believed as great as 50% of sexual child abuse is unreported. Forward, 1993 99% of sexual abuse survivors know their perpetrators-80% are abused by family members, 19% are abuse by other trusted adults. CCPA, 1992 Of 50 male sexual abuse survivors, many were as young as 8 years old. FBI Uniform Crime Report, 1991. 96% of female rape survivors were younger than 12 years old and knew their attackers. U.S. Department of Justice, 1992. A study of 10,000 female children under age 18 raped in 1992, reports that 3,800 girls were under 12 years old. U.S. Justice Department, study conducted in 11 states and the District of Columbia, June 1994. Of teenage, unwed mothers, 60-67% were incest survivors. Los Angeles Times survey, 1993 96% of teenage prostitutes were sexually molested in childhood. CCPA, 1992. Almost 80% had become prostitutes before age 18. Ibid. *60% of prostitutes were 16 or under; many were younger than 13. Ibid. Over 80% of the mothers of incest survivors were also sexually abused. 57% of sexual child abuse and incest perpetrators are survivors of sexual child abuse. Goldstein-Harte Study 1973: Carter, et al. A sexual child abuse perpetrator (a.k.a. sex offender) abuses an average of 117 children. National Institute of Mental Health, 1988. Extensive evidence substantiates the fact that sexual child abuse has taken place for centuries. In the U.S. in 2000 over 3 million child abuse and neglect reports were filed and one million were confirmed. There are 3,000 children abused each day and four of them will die. Forty % of these children were under the age of six. The age group with the highest abuse rate is 0-3 years. Nationally the highest form of abuse is neglect followed by physical abuse. In March of 2001 when President Bush declared April National Child Abuse Prevention Month he stated the cost of child abuse and neglect in the U.S. was $258 million dollars a day. This includes the price of intervention, the treatment of children who have been emotionally, physically or sexually abused as well as the indirect costs of the long term consequences both for the child and our society. Prevent Child Abuse America. In 2000, there were 261,000 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault. [2000 National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics.] Of these 261,000, 114,000 were victims of sexual assault, 55,000 were victims of attempted rape, and 92,000 were victims of completed rape. [2000 NCVS.] An estimated 906,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect in 2003 (cases substantiated by child protective service agencies).1 In 2003, 48.3 percent of child victims were male; 51.7 percent of victims were female. 83.9 percent of victims were abused by a parent. 40.8% of child victims were maltreated by their mothers acting alone; another 18.8 percent were maltreated by their fathers acting alone; 16.9 percent were abused by both parents.1 Types of maltreatment included:1 Neglect (including medical neglect) 61%
Physical Abuse 19%
Sexual Abuse 10% (90,600 children)
Psychological Maltreatment 5%
Medical Maltreatment 2%
Other* 17%
1U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Child Maltreatment 2003 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2005). Online summary: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cm03/index.htm/ |
