Child Abuse Resources

With all this talk about the ISSUE of child abuse and child maltreatment, where are all the resources? This post is specifically focused on resources to prevent of child abuse and support those that have experienced child abuse trauma. I have also included a podcast in this post where I highlighted a few resources that I felt did a great job presenting information, training, and immediate aid for those who are currently experiencing child abuse or are a survivor of child abuse. My hope is that these resources will be helpful and provide aid to those who are in need.

https://childusa.org/

CHILD USA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit think tank that conducts evidence-based legal, medical, and social science research to identify laws and policies affecting child protection. With these facts, CHILD USA shines a light on the better pathways to truly protect kids from abuse and prevent neglect. Children’s Healthcare is a Legal Duty. Sexual abuse and the maltreatment of children have an all too frequent impact on Children’s health. These acts often occur in secret, behind closed doors, but have public consequences. Victims, their families, and the public pay a high price even decades after the violence ends. CHILD USA is a child abuse nonprofit that cuts through the shame and the secrecy to gather and analyze the data behind abuse and neglect.

https://www.d2l.org

Darkness to Light is a leader in child sexual abuse prevention and uses the power of behavior change to protect children. Darkness to Light utilizes a Social Behavior Change framework to guide our work in preventing child sexual abuse. Social Behavior Change is a proven approach for enabling changes at individual, community, and societal levels to improve health and overall well-being. You can check out their blog here: https://www.d2l.org/blog/

https://stopthesilence.org/

The mission of Stop the Silence: Stop Child Sexual Abuse is to expose and stop child sexual abuse and help survivors heal worldwide. Our overarching goals are to:

Promote healing of victims and survivors
Celebrate the lives of those healed; and
Underscore child sexual abuse as a social justice and civil rights issue.

They work to address the relationships between child sexual abuse and the broader issues of overall family and community violence, and violence within and between communities.

Their focus underlines the importance of a shift in focus on positive development within our social complexes (e.g., the relationships between men, women, adults and children, cultural groups) to support peaceful – and to hinder violence-prone – relationships.

http://www.naasca.org/

The purpose of NAASCA, to address issues related to childhood abuse and trauma including sexual assault, violent or physical abuse, emotional traumas and neglect .. and they do so with only two goals:

1) educating the public, especially as related to helping society get over its taboo of discussing childhood sexual abuse (CSA), presenting facts showing child abuse to be a pandemic, worldwide problem that affects everyone

2) offering hope and healing through numerous paths, providing many services to adult survivors of child abuse and information for anyone interested in the many issues involving prevention, intervention and recovery

PLEASE ENJOY OUR PODCAST

Scope of the Child Abuse Issue

Children are suffering from a hidden epidemic of child abuse and neglect. It’s a widespread war against our children that we have the power to stop, and understanding the issue is the first step. Just how bad is the issue of child abuse in the United States?

Every year more than 3.6 million referrals are made to child protection agencies involving more than 6.6 million children (a referral can include multiple children).

The United States has one of the worst records among industrialized nations – losing on average between four and seven children every day to child abuse and neglect. ^{1, 2}

A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds.

Yearly, referrals to state child protective services involve 6.6 million children, and around 3.2 million of those children are subject to an investigated report.²

In 2014 alone, state agencies found over 702,000 victims of child maltreatment,² but that only tells part of the story.

This would pack 10 modern football stadiums

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Health Impacts of Child Abuse

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention links adverse childhood experiences (which include other household dysfunctions along with abuse and neglect) with a range of long-term health impacts. ⁴

Individuals who reported six or more adverse childhood experiences had an average life expectancy two decades shorter than those who reported none. ⁵

Ischemic heart disease (IHD), Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), liver disease and other health-related quality of life issues are tied to child abuse.

Mental Health Disorders, Addictions, & Related Issues

Risk for intimate partner violence
Alcoholism and alcohol abuse
Illicit drug abuse
Smoking & drinking at an early age
Depression
Suicide attempts

Sexual & Reproductive Health Issues and Risk Factors

Multiple sexual partners
Sexually transmitted diseases
Unintended pregnancies
Early initiation of sexual activity
Adolescent pregnancy and Fetal death

In one study, 80% of 21-year-olds who reported childhood abuse met the criteria for at least one psychological disorder. ⁶

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Financial Impacts of Child Abuse

The long-term financial impact of abuse and neglect is staggering.

For new cases in 2008 alone, lifetime estimates of lost worker productivity, health care costs, special education costs, child welfare expenditures and criminal justice expenditures added up to $124 billion.⁸

This could send 1.7 million children to college!

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Child Abuse Fatalities

We must learn to recognize early signs of abuse in order to help save the 5 children that die every day from child abuse and neglect.

In 2014, state agencies identified an estimated 1,580 children who died as a result of abuse and neglect — between four and five children a day.² However, studies also indicate significant undercounting of child maltreatment fatalities by some state agencies by 50% or more.¹⁰

That’s roughly ¼ of your child’s elementary school class!

More than 70% of the children who died as a result of child abuse or neglect were two years of age or younger. More than 80% were not yet old enough for kindergarten.³

Around 80% of child maltreatment fatalities involve at least one parent as perpetrator. ³

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Behavioral Health and Crime Related to Child Abuse

Substance Abuse and child maltreatment are tragically and undeniably linked.

In a study of 513 children exposed to drugs in-utero, rates of abuse were two to three times that of other children in the same geographical area. ⁹

As many as two-thirds of the people in treatment for drug abuse reported being abused or neglected as children. ¹¹

14% of all men in prison and 36% of women in prison in the USA were abused as children, which is about twice the frequency seen in the general population.¹²

Children who experience child abuse & neglect are about 9 times more likely to become involved in criminal activity. ¹²

Child Abuse

Bringing Awareness to a Serious Problem

children