57.7% of all children had been 

exposed to violence in 2011*B

> More than 10% reported 5 or 

more exposures

Boys 

Girls

Boys 

Girls

Lifetime:

Past year:

All youth 

Youth age

14-17

Lifetime:

All youth

Youth age

14-17

Past year:

Child, Youth,

and Teen 

Victimization

Children, youth, and teens experience high 

levels of victimization, with more than half of 

children and adolescents experiencing some 

form of physical assault in their lifetime. They

also experience multiple forms of violence 

(polyvictimization), and a large percentage 

are exposed to additional physical and 

emotional violence in their homes, schools, 

and neighborhoods. The effects can be 

cumulative and extremely damaging over 

time. The exposure itself increases the 

probability of future victimization.B Given 

the amount of time this age group spends at 

school, victimizations in this setting constitute 

an important subset of crime; see the School 

Crime Fact Sheet for more.

NOTE: Hover for data hyperlinks to source material.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Exposure to Violence

National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (children 0-17)

Percentage of youth by age or sex and exposure to types of violence in the past year: 

B

Physical 

assault

Sexual 

victimization

Property 

victimization

Child 

maltreatment

Witness to 

violence

Indirect exposure 

to violence*

41.2% were physically assaulted in 2011B

> 10.1% were injured in those assaults

13.7% of children and youth were physically bullied in 2011

36.5% were emotionally bulliedB

vs

58.5

45.2

50.3

37.1

7.5

11.4

3.8

7.8

42.5

23.2

24.9

37.8

26.1

13.4

25.2

14.2

24.2

37.4

40.9

20.5

3.7

3.1

10.1

10.2

54.5

41.2

69.7

39.5

16.4

27.4

5.6

9.5

40.2

28.5

24.1

56.6

41.2

13.8

25.6

20.6

22.4

71.5

39.2

42.6

3.4

6.4

10.1

21.8

6.1% witnessed one parent assault the other parent 

or parental partner in 2011

17.3% witnessed a parental assault in their lifetimeB

vs
Unknown (5.7%)

Hispanic (22.4%)

White (44.0%)

African American (21.2%)

American Indian/

Alaska Native (1.2%)

Asian/Pacific 

Islander (1.0%)

Multiracial (4.5%)

white

hispanic

aa

american

indian

Child maltreatment victims by race:C

Child Maltreatment

NOTES

*Exposure to violence includes physical assault, 

bullying, sexual victimization, child maltreatment 

and neglect, property victimization, and witnessed or 

indirect victimization. Indirect exposure to violence 

includes knowledge of violence in the family or 

community—e.g., household theft; learning of a 

family assault; or riots, bombings, shootings.

**For more on fatal violence against children, see the 

Homicide Fact Sheet in this series.

SOURCES

A Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the United 

States, 2014, (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of 

Justice, 2015), https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/

crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014

B David Finkelhor et al., “National Survey of Children’s 

Exposure to Violence,” Children’s Exposure to 

Violence, Crime, and Abuse: An Update,Juvenile 

Justice Bulletin, (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of 

Justice, 2015), http://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/248547.

pdf

C U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 

Administration on Children, Youth and Families, 

Children’s Bureau, Child Maltreatment 2013, http://

www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/cm2013.pdf

Homicide

> 46.5% are <1 year 

> 17% are age 1

> 10.4% are age 2

> 7.1% are age 3 

> 5.8% are age 4

> 2.9% are age 5

> 10.3 are age 6-17

1,520 children died due to child abuse or neglect in 2013 C

2.04/100,000 children, birth to age 17; the rate declines with age:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Uniform Crime Reports, Federal Bureau of Investigation

679,000 children were maltreated

in 2013, or 9.1/1,000 children: 

C

Physical abuse (18.0%) 

Neglect (79.5%)

Sexual abuse (9.0%)

Psychological maltreatment (8.7%)

Medical neglect (2.3%)

Other maltreament (10.0%)

Types of maltreatment children suffer:C

Father (20.3%) 

Mother (40.7%)

Both mother and father (22.5%)

Non-parent (12.9%)

Unknown (6.8%)

Most perpetrators are parents: C

9.1% of all homicides reported to law enforcement in 2014 

(or 1,085) were children under age 18**A

male

female

unknown Boys (63.8%)

Girls (35.8%)

Unknown (0.5%)

Child homicide victims by sex: A

Child homicide victims by race: A

black

white

other/unknow

n

Black (50.2%)

White (45.3%)

Other/Unknown (4.4%)