Child Maltreatment Definition and Statistics

"Child Maltreatment is behavior toward a child that is outside the norms of conduct and entails substantial risk of causing physical or emotional harm. Four types of maltreatment are generally recognized: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse (psychologic abuse), and neglect."

Girls were victimized slightly more often than boys at 51.2%
Parents were responsible for more than 80% of child abuse and neglect cases
Child abuse reports involved 7.8 million children
411,969 victims (60.8%) are neglected
72,814 victims (10.7%) are physically abused
47,124 victims (7%) are sexually abuse
15,605 victims (2.3%) are psychologically maltreated
Highest rate of child abuse in children under age one (26.7 per 1,000)