Originally posted by jjw004:
My non-scientific view is that the alleged percentages are far too large.
Jim,
Facts and figures about child abuse NSPCC research shows that a significant minority of children suffer serious abuse or neglect:
7% of children experienced serious physical abuse at the hands of their parents or carers during childhood.
1% of children experienced sexual abuse by a parent or carer and another 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.
6% of children experienced frequent and severe emotional maltreatment during childhood. i
16% of children experienced serious maltreatment by parents, of whom one third experienced more than one type of maltreatment. ii
Latest available figures show that there are 32,700 children on child protection registers in the UK as at 31 March 2003. iii
Nearly 79,000 children are currently looked after by local authorities in the UK. v
Every week in England and Wales one to two children will die following cruelty. vi
There are on average 80 child homicides recorded in England and Wales each year. vii
On average one child is killed by their parent or carer every week in England and Wales. viii
Three-quarters of sexually abused children did not tell anyone about the abuse at the time, and around a third still had not told anyone about their experience(s) by early adulthood. x
Over a quarter of all rapes recorded by the police are committed against children under 16 years of age. xi
31% of children experienced bullying during childhood, a further 7% were discriminated against and 14% were made to feel different/an outsider. 43% experienced at least one of these things during childhood.xii
NSPCC teams and Helplines accepted over 24,000 requests for help in 2003-4. xiii
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MentalHealth.org tell us that 1% of UK population suffer manic depression or schizophrenia.
Compared to figures of 15% of children experiencing sexual abuse by someone known or related to them (therefore likely to be prolonged) and 16% of children experiencing one or more type of serious maltreatment, I certainly don't see the percentages as being far too large.
Blacknad.