NSPCC study finds one in five 11-17 year olds abused and neglected in childhood
Equivalent of 175 children in every school severely maltreated at some point
Nearly one million secondary school children in the UK have been severely abused or neglected during childhood, the NSPCC reveals today.
The finding comes from the charity’s biggest-ever study into child abuse. Researchers questioned nearly 4,000 children, teenagers and young adults.
The shock findings include:
· Twenty per cent of 11-17 year olds - or 973,000 children1 - have been physically attacked by an adult, sexually abused, or severely neglected at home.
· One in twenty 11-17 year olds had been sexually assaulted – either by an adult or another child or young person.
· Five per cent of the 18-24 year olds said they’d been raped or forced into sex acts before the age of 16.
The headline figure of twenty percent being abused equates to around 175 children in every secondary school severely maltreated at some point in childhood.
With only 46,000 children of all ages under local authority protection, the NSPCC believe this is just the tip of the iceberg with the vast majority of abused and neglected children not getting the vital help they need – either from statutory services or within the community. 3
These findings compared with the first NSPCC child abuse study carried out a decade ago, show the levels of some abuse have actually dropped in the past 30 years.
However with the current findings showing shockingly high levels of child abuse the NSPCC believe more needs to be done to change public attitude and behaviour towards children.
Audio Podcast: NSPCC trustee and ChildLine founder and president Esther Rantzen discussing the worrying findings of the study and talking about what can be done to start reducing these horrific statistics.
National
Comparing the two surveys of young adults in 1998-99 and 2009:
· The number of 18-24 year olds beaten up, knocked down, choked or threatened with a weapon in childhood, had dropped from 13% to 10% in 2009. The number suffering regular violence had dropped even more sharply - from six per cent to two per cent in 2009.
· Five per cent of the young adults were raped or forced into sex acts before the age of 16, compared to seven per cent in the previous study.
· The number suffering prolonged verbal abuse by adults during childhood had dropped by more than a half – from 14.5 per cent to six per cent.
The survey of 11-17 year olds shows:
· One in fourteen (6.9%) had been physically attacked by an adult, which included being hit, kicked, beaten or attacked with a weapon. Parents or guardians were responsible for more than half (55%) the violent acts carried out on the children during childhood.
· One in twenty (4.8%) had been sexually abused – either by an adult or another child or young person. Three per cent of children had been raped or forced into sex by another child and two per cent had been abused by an adult.
· Physical neglect, such as malnourishment, was suffered by 1.4% of children. In all, one in ten children (9.8%) suffered severe parental neglect at some point in their childhood. Lack of care or supervision which placed a child at risk, and neglect of emotional needs was the most common form of child maltreatment.
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