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December 4, 2008Study Shows Child Abuse in High Income Countries Grossly Underreported; John Jay College Professor Widom's Findings Featured in The Lancet's Series on Child Maltreatment |
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From Ascribe Newsfeed: Child maltreatment is far more common than suggested by official statistics of child protective agencies, according to "Burden and Consequences of Child Maltreatment in High Income Countries," a recent paper co-authored by Cathy Spatz Widom, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at John Jay College with Ruth Gilbert, Professor at the Evidence-based Child Health and MRC Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health, University College London Institute of Child Health, UK, and colleagues. This research, recently published in the British medical journal, The Lancet, was part of their series on Child Maltreatment. The researchers found that child maltreatment remains a major public-health and social-welfare problem in high-income countries. During childhood, between 5 percent and 10 percent of girls and up to 5 percent of boys are exposed to penetrative sexual abuse, and up to three times this number are exposed to any type of sexual abuse. Neglect is at least as damaging as physical or sexual abuse in the long term but has received the least scientific and public attention. The Lancet is one of the world's leading medical journals. Established in 1964, John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York is an international leader in educating for justice.
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