Didja Know...

...The recently released annual report on child maltreatment in the United States identified nearly 900,000 children as victims of severe abuse or neglect in 2000.  Of those, 62% suffered neglect, 19% were physically abused, 10% were sexually abused and 8% were psychologically maltreated.  Consistent with previous years, 84% of victims were abused by a parent.  And in 2000, the first year of the new millennium, nearly 1200 children died from abuse and neglect.  That equals 100 children a month, or, to put it in concrete terms - approximately one classroom worth of children die every single week! (excerpt from an update by Stop Family Violence Now organization)

According to the 1999 National Crime Victimization survey by the Department of Justice, every 90 seconds a person over the age of 12 is sexually assaulted.  That translates to 40 an hour, 960 per day, 350,000 per year!  A 1992 study conducted by the National Victim Center, found the incidences almost TWICE as high!¹

The National Violence Against Women Survey found that rape is a crime committed primarily against youth!  Of the women who reported being raped sometime in their lives, 21.6% were younger than age 21;  32.4% were ages 12 to 17; 29% were ages 18 to 24, and 16.6% were over 25 years old.  Thus, 54% of women victims were under age 18 at the time of the first rape and 83% were under the age of 25. ²

In 1995, local child protective service agencies identified 126,000 children who were victims of sexual abuse; of these, 75% were girls, 25% were boys.  Nearly 30% of child victims were between 4 and 7 years old! ³

These statistics are horrifying!  No adult or child, should ever be put in this situation.  The emotional affects of rape and/or sexual abuse last a lifetime.  There IS help to overcome the damaging affects, but it takes professional help.  No matter how many times we tell ourselves, "I don't need to tell anyone...I can do this by myself", the fact still remains, we all need the support and experience of those that are objective and understand the dynamics of abuse in order to REALLY understand how it plays a roll in our daily lives.  I am a strong advocate for professional help.  Without it, I may never have understood or been able to heal from my own background of incest.

For more information, or if you or someone you knows suspects abuse, PLEASE call your local abuse hotline or child protective services immediately! (In Oakland County Michigan contact Care House at: 248-333-0999; in Macomb County: 810-463-0123; or nationwide call 1-800-962-2873)

For additional resources, click on our links.html page.

Pam Drake

Artist and Founder

Judy M. Rauckhorst, MSW, LCSW
Editor, The Dysfunktional Card Co.
Vice-President, Family Life Today, Inc.
Clearwater, FL

¹  Kilpatrick, DJ, Edmunds CN Seymour A, 1992.  Rape in America:  A Report to the Nation, Arlington, VA: National Victim Center

^2.  Tjaden, Patricia and Thoennes, Nancy, November 1998.  Prevalence, Incidence and Consequences of Violence Against Women;  Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey.  Washington D.C:  National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Dept. of Justice.

^3.  Administration for Children and Families, 1995.  Report on Child Maltreatment, Department of Health and Human Services, Greenfeld, L., Sex Offenses and Offenders, 1997.  Washington, D.C.:  Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice.