Child Victimization

Child Victimization in United States

United States

Approximately 618,000 children in the United States were subjected to maltreatment in 2020. Child victimization takes many forms, including sexual, physical and emotional abuse; in 2020, the most common form of child maltreatment was neglect. The vast majority of perpetrators are family members or known relatives; only 3.8% of child victimization perpetrators are someone other than the child’s relative.

While short- and long-term consequences may differ by the type of victimization, the negative impact on cognitive — and subsequent academic, social and emotional — development is consistent. Health outcomes associated with child victimization include increased risk of substance use, conduct disorders, anxiety, depression and being bullied or bullying others. Victims of child abuse are also at higher risk for general health concerns and tend to be ill or stay home sick from school more often than their peers. The social and emotional effects of child victimization include reduced ability to form attachments to their parents, process emotions and correctly assume others’ intentions. 

It is estimated that child maltreatment costs the United States economy $2 trillion per year. These costs stem from the pain, suffering and grief attributable to the maltreatment experienced by victims and communities, as well as lost productivity, short- and long-term health care costs, child welfare costs, criminal justice costs and special education costs.

The rate of victimization is higher among:

• Girls compared with boys.
• Children ages 1 year or younger. 
• American Indian/Alaska Native and African American children compared with children from other racial backgrounds.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed a technical package of evidence-based strategies for preventing child abuse and neglect at the community and state levels. Some of the strategies include:

• Improving financial security and workplace support for families.
• Family-centered early childhood education that promotes positive behavioral and parenting skills.
• Harm-reduction interventions by health care providers in high-risk or active abuse situations.
• Trauma-informed care for children and families.
• Early childhood home visitation from health professionals to reduce malnutrition in high-risk children.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway offers resources for child abuse prevention, including a list of evidence-based practices.

Healthy People 2030 has several objectives related to child victimization, including reducing the incidence of both fatal and non-fatal child abuse and neglect.

Children’s Bureau. “Child Maltreatment 2020.” Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, 2022. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/report/child-maltreatment-2020.

Fortson, Beverly L., Joanne Klevens, Melissa T. Merrick, Leah K. Gilbert, and Sandra P. Alexander. “Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect: A Technical Package for Policy, Norm, and Programmatic Activities.” Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/CAN-Prevention-Technical-Package.pdf.

Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research. Edited by Anne C. Petersen, Joshua Joseph, and Monica Feit. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2014. https://doi.org/10.17226/18331.

National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. “Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body: Early Childhood Development and Lifelong Health Are Deeply Intertwined.” Working Paper No. 15. Cambridge, MA: Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2020. www.developingchild.harvard.edu.

Peterson, Cora, Curtis Florence, and Joanne Klevens. “The Economic Burden of Child Maltreatment in the United States, 2015.” Child Abuse & Neglect 86 (December 1, 2018): 178–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.09.018.