The National RESOURCE CENTER for REACHING VICTIMS Youth Victimization Helping those who help others

Children are the most victimized segment of the population. They are victims of the same crimes as adults but are particularly vulnerable to certain types, such as neglect and psychological abuse.1 Childhood victimization increases the likelihood an individual will be a victim again, as well as experience multiple types of victimization. This trend is most associated with mental health problems and bad outcomes.2 Crime Trends Overall from 1995 to 2017, the rate of violent victimization for those age 12-17 decreased from 156 to 34 violent victimizations per 1,000 adolescents.3 However, from 2016-2017, there was a significant increase in adolescent violent victimization, from 25.1 reports per 1,000 to 33.4 reports per 1,000; this represents a 34% increase from year to year.3 Youth most frequently reported neglect and physical abuse; a small percentage of victims experienced “other” maltreatment, such as threatened abuse or neglect, drug/alcohol addiction, and lack of supervision.4

Violent Victimization Rates Child Maltreatment by Type National Crime Victimization Survey National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System 2016 175 150 Neglect 74.8% 125 Physical Abuse 18.2% 100 Sexual 8.5% Abuse 75 Other 6.9% te per 1,000 50 Ra Psychological 5.6% 25 Maltreatment Medical 2.1% 0 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 Neglect 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Age 12-17 Age 12 or older Percentage of Victims Age 0-17

Did You Know?

• In 2016, an estimated 1,750 children died as a result of abuse or neglect; 70% of these victims were younger than 3 years old.4 • In 2016, about 61% of youth victims received post-victimization response services from a CPS agency.4 • Both official and self-report data sources point to substantial declines in child victimization since the 1990s.1, 2

2019 1 Current Data on Child Victimization The youngest children are the most vulnerable; in 2016, 28.5% of child victims were younger than 3 years of age. Children younger than 1 year were the most frequently victimized; this age group was 2.5x more likely to be victimized than any other age group. Rates of child victimization were similar for both boys (48.6%) and girls (51.0%), with gender unknown for 0.4%.4 In 2016, the majority of perpetrators were a parent of their victim. More than half (53.7%) of perpetrators were women, 45.3% were men, and 1% were of an unknown gender.4 In 2016, the rate of victimization among black and American Indian/Alaska Native youth was more than 8x that of Asian youth, and more than 1.2x greater than youth of any other race or ethnicity.4

Perpetrator’s Relationship to Victim Child Victims of Abuse/Neglect by Race and Ethnicity National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System 2016 National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System 2016

Other Black 13.9 Multiple Nonrelative American Relationships 6% 4% Unknown Indian/ 14.2 2% Alaska Native Unmarried Partner Asian 1.6 of Parent 4% Hispanic 8

Multiple 11.2 Race Other Pacific Relative Islander 8.6 6% Parent 78% White 8.1 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Rate per 1,000 Youth (of Same Race/Ethnicity) Age 0-17

Limitations Combined with strict guidelines regarding data collection from minors, researchers often struggle to gather comprehensive data on child victimization. Much of the available data in this report is considered to be an underestimate of the true prevalence of child victimization and should be interpreted with caution.1

SOURCES 1. Finkelhor, D. (2011). “Prevalence of Child Victimization, Abuse, Crime, and Violence Exposure” in J.W. White, M.P. Koss, and A.E. Kazdin (Eds.), Violence Against Women and Children: Mapping the Terrain (pp. 9-26). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

2. David Finkelhor et al., National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (2015), “Prevalence of Childhood Exposure to Violence, Crime, and Abuse,” http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2344705

3. Morgan, R.E. & Truman, J. L. (December 2018). Criminal Victimization, 2017 (Publication No. NCJ 252-472). Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, US Department of Justice. Retrieved from https://bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv17.pdf

4. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau. (2018). Child maltreatment 2016. Retrieved from https://acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/cm2016.pdf

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