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Ten - Child maltreatment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

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Summary

Key statistics

  • • In March/July 2014 there were over 56,000 children on the child protection register/subject to a child protection plan in the UK*.

  • • There were 48 child homicides in the UK* in 2013-14.

  • • There were over 36,000 recorded sexual offences and 9,500 recorded offences of cruelty and neglect against children under the age of 18 in the UK* in 2013-14.

  • • The most recent self-report survey data (NSPCC) indicates lifetime retrospective rates of maltreatment and severe maltreatment by a parent or guardian of 25% and 15% respectively. Experience of neglect is more common than (in descending order) physical violence, emotional abuse and sexual abuse. Almost a quarter of children (24%) are exposed to domestic violence at some point in childhood.

  • • Many children also experience lifetime maltreatment by non-resident adults (13%), peer victimisation (63%), sibling victimisation (25%), intimate partner abuse (13%) and exposure to community violence (67%).

  • • Many children experience bullying at school, by siblings and online, and there is growing evidence of its negative short-term and long-term impacts.

  • Key trends

  • • Rates of child protection registration have risen substantially since 2010 in England (+20%), Wales (+17%) and Scotland (+14%), but have fallen in Northern Ireland (–20%).

  • • There is evidence of a long-term decline in violent death in infancy and middle childhood, while rates in adolescence have remained stable or possibly risen.

  • • Rates of recorded sexual offences against children have increased in all four countries since 2009-10.

  • • Rates of recorded offences of cruelty and neglect have increased since 2009-10 in England and Northern Ireland, have remained stable in Wales and have decreased in Scotland.

  • • There is some evidence of a decrease in self-reported experiences of physical abuse over the decade between 1999 and 2009

  • Key sources

  • • Child protection statistics for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

  • • Crime statistics for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

  • • Jütte et al (2015)

  • • Radford et al (2011)

  • • A range of other self-report surveys including Health Behaviour of School-aged Children (HBSC), Children's Worlds, EU Kids Online, Net Children Go Mobile, NSPCC Social Networking Survey, Ofcom Media Use and Attitudes Survey 2014

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Publisher: Bristol University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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