"One child in ten is abused"

One child in ten in the UK is experiencing physical, sexual or emotional abuse or is neglected, say experts.
Research published in the Lancet medical journal says that most maltreated children are never referred to social services. People who have contact with children such as teachers and teaching assistants lack awareness of the signs of maltreatment, and the procedures for reporting any concerns to child protection agencies. Many professionals also have little confidence that telling social workers will help children or fear their lives will be made even worse if they are taken into care, say the researchers.
Using a range of different studies, the Lancet claims that every year between four and 16 per cent of children are physically abused, and one in ten is neglected or emotionally abused.
During children, up to one in ten girls and one in twenty boys experience penetrative sexual abuse. Up to three times as many are sexually abused in non-penetrative ways.
The researchers say that neglect is at least as damaging as physical or sexual abuse in the long term, but has received least attention.
Lancet editor Richard Horton said the findings showed that child maltreatment was very complex. Trying to blame individual professionals or think there was a simple solution was to “completely misrepresent the extent and depth of the problem”, he said.