What is abuse?

About 618,000 children are abused in the U.S. annually—that’s a rate of around 8.4 victims for every 1,000 children.¹ In the U.S., 57,871 cases of child sexual abuse and 101,114 cases of physical abuse were reported in 2020. ¹

Generally, abuse and neglect occur several ways, all of which could be happening at the same time. The definition of civil and criminal abuse varies from state to state. Please refer to your state statutes for its definition of abuse.

Emotional abuse is injury to the psychological capacity or emotional stability of the child as evidenced by an observable or substantial change in behavior, emotional response, or cognition. If is often evidenced by anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or aggressive behavior.² It can take the form of threats, critical words, demeaning terms or names, deprivation of affection, or similar emotional cruelty. It can be spoken or unspoken.

Sexual abuse can be defined by any form of sexual contact between a child and an adult or older youth. This could include showing or talking about sexually explicit material. All States include sexual abuse in their definitions of child abuse. Some States refer in general terms to sexual abuse, while others specify various acts as sexual abuse.²

Physical abuse is any nonaccidental physical injury to a minor. It can take several forms, including striking, kicking, burning, or biting a minor or any action resulting in a minor's physical impairment.²

Neglect is the failure of a parent or other person with responsibility for the child to provide needed food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or supervision to the degree that the child's health, safety, and well-being are threatened with harm.²

1. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau. (2022). Child Maltreatment 2020. Available from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/data-research/child-maltreatment.

2. Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2022). Definitions of child abuse and neglect. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau. https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/statutes/define/