Current Abuse Statistics"Every full double-decker school bus at the end of the day is likely to be taking home around 7 seriously unhappy children. Most of the lower deck would at some time during their childhood have been going home to serious worries. Approximately 10 children may be going home to a 'double-shift' of cleaning, laundry, shopping and preparing meals, and 2 or 3 will be in fear of violence between their parents another two or three will be returning to a life of regular beatings or denigration."
(Cawson et al. (2000) Child maltreatment in the United Kingdom: a study of the prevalence of child abuse and neglect..)
The frequency of child abuse in a country is usually derived from prevalence or incidence studies:
Prevalence of child abuse refers to the proportion of the defined population who have been abused during a specified time period - usually childhood (i.e. 0-18)
Incidence refers to the number of new cases occurring in a defined child population over a year.
There are four key types of maltreatment: physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and neglect.
The NSPCC's Child Maltreatment study (Cawson et al, 2000) of the prevalence of maltreatment and harm that children experience provides an essential starting point in defining the scale of maltreatment. It is the first such study of the general population, involving nearly 3,000 young adults (aged 18-24), to be carried out in the UK. It found that:
7% of children experienced serious physical abuse at the hands of their parents or carers during childhood.
1% of children aged under 16 experienced sexual abuse by a parent or carer and a further
3% by another relative during childhood.
11% of children experienced sexual abuse by people known but unrelated to them.
5% of children experienced sexual abuse by an adult stranger or someone they had just met
6% of children experienced serious absence of care at home during childhood
5% of children experienced serious absence of supervision during childhood
6% of children experienced frequent and severe emotional maltreatment during childhood.
(Cawson et al. (2000) Child maltreatment in the United Kingdom: a study of the prevalence of child abuse and neglect. London: NSPCC. p.70)
16% of children (1 in 6) experienced serious maltreatment by parents, of whom one third experienced more than one type of maltreatment . The study found that 'both parents were equally likely to be involved in maltreatment [physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect], with the exception of sexual abuse'.
(Cawson (2002) Child maltreatment in the family: the experience of a national sample of young people. London: NSPCC. p.5 and 26)
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"I have learned to tell people if something has happened to make me feel uncomfortable"
Stephen, aged 9
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