General Stats

• 90-95% of all abuse cases go unreported to the police.
• About 95% of victims know their perpetrators.

• Men who have witnessed their parents' domestic violence are three times more likely to abuse their own wives than children of non-violent parents.
• 70% of men who batter their women also batter their children.
• The sons of the most violent parents are 1000 times more likely to become wife beaters.

Child Abuse and Maltreatment

• Over 3 million children are at risk of exposure to parental violence each year.
• Child abuse is 15 times more likely to occur in families where domestic violence is present.
• Children who grow up in a family where there is domestic violence are 8 times more likely to be sexually molested within that family.
• Over 3 children died each day in 1995 as a result of parental maltreatment.
• There were 2 1/2 million reports of sexual and physical abuse of children in 1993.
• In 1998 approximately 47 out of every 1,000 children were reported as victims of maltreatment.
• In 1997, 3,195,000 children were reported for child abuse and neglect to CPS agencies in the U.S. Child abuse reporting levels have increased by 41% between 1988 and 1997.
• 50% of infants in the United States are in someone else's care.
• 41 states require no training for child care providers.

Children who witness violence at home display emotional and behavioral disturbances as diverse as:

• aggression against peers, family members and property
• withdrawal
• low self-esteem
• nightmares
• self-blame

next: Domestic Violence Statistics ~ back to: Facts and Statistics Table of Contents