Guns were the primary cause of homicide among children in Finland, Israel, Australia, Italy, Germany and England. No children died from guns in Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Singapore, Japan and Kuwait, the CDC said. The incidence rate of children victimized by maltreatment also declined to 12.9 per 1,000 children, the lowest record in more than 10 years. Based on data reported by states, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that child protective service agencies received about 2,806,000 referrals of possible maltreatment in 1998. In a trend which began five years ago, the number of children abused and neglected has decreased approximately 11 percent from a record 1,018,692 in 1993.
Parents continue to be the main perpetrators of child maltreatment.
More than 80 percent of all victims were maltreated by one or both parents. Victims of physical and sexual abuse, compared to victims of neglect and medical neglect, were more likely to be maltreated by a male parent acting alone. Nearly 12 percent of the victims were sexually abused.