Something Was Wrong - S17 E7: Data Points: Child Abuse

Episode Date: September 12, 2023

*Content Warning: child abuse, sibling abuse, emotional, sexual, medical and physical violence of children. Free and confidential resources + Safety Tips: somethingwaswrong.com/resources Artwork by the amazing Sara Stewart @GreaterThanOkay - Instagram.com/greaterthanokay*Sources:Child Welfare Organizations by Statehttps://www.childwelfare.gov/organizations/?CWIGFunctionsaction=rols:main.dspList&rolType=custom&rs_id=5CDC on Child Abuse Prevalencehttps://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/vacs/onebillion-children.htmlCDC Fast Facts on Child Abuse https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/fastfact.htmlChild Sexual Abuse Disclosure Rateshttps://www.d2l.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Child-Sexual-Abuse-Disclosure-Statistics-and-Literature-Review.pdfChild Sexual Abuse Prevalence & Statisticshttps://www.d2l.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Updated-Prevalence-White-Paper-1-25-2016_2020.pdfCalifornia Partnership to End Domestic Violencehttps://www.cpedv.org/Children’s Assessment Centerhttps://cachouston.org/about-the-cac/a-message-from-our-director/Domestic Violence Action Centerhttps://domesticviolenceactioncenter.org/about/Futures Without Violencehttps://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/our-mission/Child Welfare.gov on The Consequences of Abusehttps://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/long_term_consequences.pdfChild maltreatment, 19 September 2022, World Health organization https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/child-maltreatment  Peterson C, Florence C, Klevens J. The economic burden of child maltreatment in the United States, 2015. Child Abuse Negl. 2018 Dec;86:178-183. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.09.018. Epub 2018 Oct 8. PMID: 30308348; PMCID: PMC6289633. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30308348/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey friends, the Broken Cycle Media team and I are excited to offer a new series of educational episodes, which we're calling data points. These special ad free episodes will include educational information, statistics, and support on different topics that are important to our community. Thank you so much for listening. child abuse is defined as the harm, mistreatment, neglect, or coercive manipulation of a person under the age of 18. Both adults and children can be perpetrators of child abuse, and the majority of child abuse is perpetuated by someone the child knows and trusts, like a parent or relative. Abuse can be physical, mental, emotional, sexual, and or medical in nature. This also includes neglect. Children who are victims of abuse are often afraid to report or disclose it, especially if their abuser is a close relative. Relatedly, several studies done around the world have found various disclosure rates,

which is the rate at which events of abuse are reported compared to how many events of abuse actually occur. In one study, it suggested that one third of children who are victimized report it immediately. One third wait up to five years to report it, and the final one-third either waits longer than five years, or never reports at all. The World Health Organization purports that three out of four children between the ages of two and four regularly suffer physical punishment and or psychological violence at the hands of their caregivers. Another study proposes that 79% of abuse

inflicted by a female abuser will remain unreported indefinitely. It has also been found that the average age of victim reports childhood sexual abuse is 52 years old. There are many factors that can affect the results of these studies beyond non-reporting. Some studies are self-restricting because they only discuss adult to child abuse rather

than including peer-inflicted abuse as well. All of the studies that will be mentioned in these episodes will be linked in the episode notes. Another factor is whether victims of abuse are being interviewed as children or retrospectively as adults. Other studies only include statistics about the incidents of contact abuse, omitting non-physical contact abuse, altogether. All of these and many more remain to be factors that affect the proposed incident of abuse. Considering only the cases that are reported,

the CDC states that 1 billion children, ages 2 to 17, experience violence each year. In the same study, it was found that 64% of children in Asia, 56% of children in North America, 50% of children in Asia, 56% of children in North America, 50% of children in Africa, 34% of children in Latin America, and 12% of children in Europe have faced severe physical violence or abuse in the last year as well. One in five women and one in 13 men report having been sexually abused as a child. Despite it being relatively impossible to calculate the real number of childhood abuse victims,

there are signs and symptoms to be wary of. Children who are being subjected to consistent harm often withdraw. They experience changes in their behavior or self-confidence. They often show signs of increased depression, anxiety, fears, and more. If you suspect a child in your life is facing abuse, there are steps established to help. First, if you suspect someone is being abused and is in immediate danger, please call 911 to report the abuse. If you suspect a child in your life is being abused but is not an imminent serious danger,

you can visit the list of child welfare offices by state in the episode notes to find out where and how to report the abuse or neglect directly. For more information about protocol from specific resources, please visit something was wrong.com slash resources for a list of nonprofits that can offer guidance. The long-term effects of childhood abuse are undeniably profound.

As child welfare states, childhood maltreatment can be linked later in life to physical, psychological, and behavioral consequences to individuals, as well as society as a whole. The immediate impact of abuse varies from person to person, but can generally cause altered brain development, changes in physical growth, indoor symptoms such as anxiety or pain. Other byproducts of childhood abuse can be low self-esteem and high-risk behaviors such as substance abuse. Childhood abuse is often found to be linked to long-term problems in adulthood and a higher risk of a large array of physical ailments, such as malnutrition, heart attacks, migraines, digestive issues, cancer, chronic bronchitis, and several other health conditions.

A study done by the CDC found that for each child who faces non-fatal abuse in their youth, the lifetime cost of attending to the effects of that abuse is roughly $831,000, including welfare, health care, and costs within the US justice systems. The United States alone pays $428 billion a year to help victims of substantiated cases of non-fatal abuse. The nature of abuse is cyclical and incredibly covert, and there are many ways to combat and eradicate abuse. The pervasive nature of abuse requires extensive efforts across the world to truly try to eradicate childhood abuse. The World Health Organization

has created comprehensive, actionable steps to support parents and children in an effort to lessen the number of childhood abuse victims. These steps include teaching positive parenting skills that promote healthy psychological development in children, as well as more emotional and mental health support for parents. It is suggested that more economic support for families could reduce the prevalence of childhood abuse as well. Considering there is a direct scientific correlation between increased parental financial difficulties and an increased prevalence of abuse. Another World Health Organization suggestion is changing societal norms to support parents more. They suggest providing quality childcare and education early in life to reduce future risks of abuse.

There are many child abuse nonprofit organizations offering comprehensive resources, tools, and education for both children and adults. These organizations include the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, Childhood Assessment Center, which provides a coordinated approach to treating childhood abuse victims and their families, Domestic Violence Action Center, Futures Without Violence, the National Center for Youth Law, and many, many more.

For more information about the nonprofit organizations mentioned prior and the sources, please visit the episode notes. For a comprehensive list of organizations that are working to help alleviate the effects of childhood abuse and eliminate childhood abuse altogether, please visit somethingwaswrong.com slash resources. For more information about volunteer opportunities, please visit the resources page as well, and reach out directly to an organization to find out how you can get involved.

Thank you so much for listening.