Woman Thou Art God: Statistics of Child Sexual Abuse

ASTROUNDING STATISTICS OF CHILD ABUSE
MOTHERGOD HELP US

CONTRIBUTION FROM: DEVOTEE RICK

SEXUAL ABUSE STATISTICS
COMPILED, VARIOUS SOURCES

CPS agencies reported more than 3 million maltreated children in 1996- a 161% increase from 1980. Of these reports, only 35% were substantiated. (National Center for Juvenile Justice, Sept.1999. Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report, Washington. Dept. of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, p. 45).

One in three girls and one in five boys are sexually abused before the age of 18. (National Victim Center, 1992)

Forcible rape of women over the age of 18 occurs in the US at a rate of 1.3 per minute, 78 per hour; projected total of 683,000 per year.

Rape continues to be the least reported violent crime: In 1996, 31.6% of all rapes/sexual assaults were reported to law enforcement. (National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1997.]

In 1998 there were 333,000 Rapes and Sexual Assaults reported by women over the age of 12.

83% of all sexual offenses occurred before the victim reached the age of 25. (Rape in America, 1992)

According to a 1992 Department of Justice study, one in six reported rapes happened to girls under the age of 12. (Langan, Patrick PhD and Caroline Wolf Harlow, Ph.D., "Child Rape Victims, 1992," p.1, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice)

Over 50% of all child sexual abuse occurs before the age of seven. (National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, U.S. DHHS, 1997)

Two-thirds of sex offenders currently in state prisons sexually assaulted children under the age of 18. (Child Victims, Violent Offenders and Their Victims, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996)

11% of the sexual abuse victims reported that they were assaulted by their father or stepfather and 16% by other relatives while they were children. (Langan, Patrick Ph.D. and Caroline Wolf Harlow, Ph.D., "Child Rape Victims, 1992," p.1, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice)

Approximately 28% of victims are raped by husbands or boyfriends, 35% by acquaintances, and 5% by other relatives. [Violence against Women. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994]

Neglect is the most common form of child maltreatment, however, children age eight and younger experienced 65 % of all neglect in 1996.(National Center for Juvenile Justice, Sept.1999. Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report, Washington. Dept. of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, p. 46)

MARYLAND

Each year in Maryland there are approximately 29,000 child abuse\neglect investigations. It is estimated that only 5% of child abuse incidents are ever reported. (Kids Count 1999)

HOWARD COUNTY

In 1999, Howard County police investigated 29 reported rapes with 5 arrests and 135 sexual offenses with 27 arrests. These figures do not include statistics from the Department of Social Services, nor does it include Howard County victims abused or assaulted in other jurisdictions or adults who were abused as children. For the year 2000, Howard County Police investigated 36 reported rapes with 6 arrests and 130 sexual offenses with 28 arrests.

In 2000, the Howard County Child Protective Services investigated 868 cases of child maltreatment, as compared to 830 in FY'99. Out of the 868 reported cases, Child Protective Services at the Child Advocacy Center investigated 162 sexual abuse cases and 42 sexual offenses. The Howard County Police Child Abuse Unit investigated 5 rapes, 105 child sexual abuse and 42 sex offenses.

Through the Listening Place (the Child Advocacy Center) the police and CPS jointly handled 134 cases of maltreatment.

In FY '00, the STTAR Center provided services to 594 child and adult victims of sexual assault/abuse and family members. We also provided services to 83 high-risk youth, making the total number of clients served 677, as compared to 672 clients served in FY'99. In addition, we received 2,046 hotline calls and provided 49 medical accompaniments to the hospital.

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