Facts about Child Abuse

• New Zealand has the fifth worst child abuse record out of 31 OECD Countries

• On average one child is killed every 5 weeks
  
  • Most of these children are under five and the largest group is less than a year old

• Ninety percent of all child deaths are perpetrated by someone the child knew

• Nearly 9,000 children per year are born “at risk” (1 in every 30)
  
  
• 150,757 notifications were made to Child Youth and Family in the year ended June 2011
  
  
• Child Abuse costs NZ around $2 billion each year
  
  
• Studies have found abused and neglected children to be at least 25 percent more likely to experience problems such as delinquency, teen pregnancy, low academic achievement, drug use and mental health problems. ¹

 

^{1. Kelley, B. T., Thornberry, T. P., & Smith, C. A. (1997). In the wake of childhood maltreatment. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice. Retrieved April 27, 2006, from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/165257.pdf}