Child abuse is defined as the physical and/or psychological maltreatment of children. There are four forms of child abuse: physical abuse; psychological abuse; sexual abuse, and neglect. [1] The effects of child abuse and neglect can inhibit a child's ability to think and act like a child, and can therefore lead to the onset of psychological, physiological and/or immunological abnormalities. [2]

According to the Centers For Disease Control (CDC), child abuse can lead to the following problems:

• Children who experience maltreatment are at increased risk for adverse health effects and behaviors as adults—including smoking, alcoholism, drug abuse, eating disorders, severe obesity, depression, suicide, sexual promiscuity, and certain chronic diseases (Felitti et al. 1998; Runyan et al. 2002).
• Maltreatment during infancy or early childhood can cause important regions of the brain to form improperly, leading to physical, mental, and emotional problems such as sleep disturbances, panic disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (DHHS 2001).
• About 25% to 30% of infant victims with SBS die from their injuries. Nonfatal consequences of SBS include varying degrees of visual impairment (e.g., blindness), motor impairment (e.g. cerebral palsy) and cognitive impairments (National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome 2005).
• Victims of child maltreatment who were physically assaulted by caregivers are twice as likely to be physically assaulted as adults (Tjaden et al. 2000).
• Direct costs (judicial, law enforcement, and health system responses to child maltreatment) are estimated at $24 billion each year. The indirect costs (long-term economic consequences of child maltreatment) exceed an estimated $69 billion annually (Fromm 2001).

Governmental departments such as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and Administration for Children and Families (ACF) are responsible for collecting information on child abuse in Australia and USA respectively. According to the ACF's most recent report, Child Maltreatment 2004, 57.8% of child abuse and neglect was perpetrated by females. The majority of female perpetrators were younger than 30-years-of-age (44.4%), compared to 34.1% of male perpetrators aged 30 or less. A more detailed analysis of the report is available on the official ACF Website. [3]

Quick Facts: Child Maltreatment 2004, ACF.

• 57.8% of perpetrators were female.
• The majority of female perpetrators were younger than 30-years-of-age (44.4%)
• The median age for female perpetrators was 31, compared to 34 for male perpetrators.

The AIHW's most recent report on child abuse, Child Protection 2001-02, does not offer any information on the sex of child abuse perpetrators, however it does acknowledge that the majority of abused children are from single mother households. An online version of the report is available at the AIHW Website. [4]

Quick Facts: Child Protection, 2001-02, AIHW.

• Over 38% of abused children lived in single-mother households.

The Child Maltreatment 1997: Reports From the States to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System Study revealed the following statistics:

Child Abuse -- Maltreatment:

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