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 Why Prevention?
Prevalence of Child Abuse in America
- Everyday three children in the U.S. are murdered by a parent or caretaker.
- 18,000 children are permanently disabled every year.
- 570,000 children are seriously injured every year.
- 5,000,000 children were reported as victims of child abuse and neglect in 2001 in the United States.
- In 2004, more than 36,000 incidents of child abuse were reported to the Orange County Child Abuse Registry - approximately 3,000 a month and 100 per day. Approximately 1,000 children were removed from their homes and placed in foster care or emergency shelters.
- Head trauma is the leading cause of child abuse death among babies. This includes Shaken Baby Syndrome, in which 25% of victims die and the majority of survivors suffer brain damage.
- In 2001, approximately 85% of child abuse fatalities were children under the age of 6; approximately 41% were children under one year old.
- Child abuse kills more children in America than do accidental falls, choking on food, suffocation or fires in the home.
Child Sexual Abuse
- One in four female children and one in six male children are molested by age 18.
- 80-90% percent of the offenders are family members or close friends of the family.
- California has 101,589 registered sex offenders; 2,866 live in Orange County.
Domestic Violence
- There were 11,848 reports of Domestic Violence made to Orange County police in 2000.
- In California, 50% of all women murdered are killed by a husband or boyfriend.
- More women are injured as a result of Domestic Violence than from other causes, including rapes, muggings and car accidents.
Teen Pregnancy
- The U.S. has the highest teen birth rate in the industrialized world, and California has one of the highest in the nation.
- The number of children who get pregnant before the age of 13 has doubled in the last decade.
- More than 3,400 babies were born to Orange County teenagers in 2001 - 80% of them to Latinas.
- 21% of California's teen births are second and third babies.
- Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school and more likely to be dependent on welfare and/or struggle with unemployment, drugs, alcohol, and child abuse than teenagers who postpone parenting.
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