Impact of Child Abuse

Child abuse is one of the most prominent issues in the United States. It is a harmful and deadly issue that impacts children internationally. Not only can it affect the victim physically, but it can entail damage to their growth and development throughout their lives. It can also impact the overall well-being and mental health of the victim. Child abuse is known to be the cause of death to over 1500 children each year; most of which are under four years old. (Troiano, 2011) And although child abuse is a common topic in movies, books, and other sorts of multimedia, it is a cruel reality that many families must face. Child abuse is not only experienced by children's parents. A portion of all reported child abuse cases came from adults in a child's environment such as other relatives, teachers, care takers, coaches, neighbors, or other adults that the child knows while only ten percent of child abuse is by a stranger. However, these statistics can also only stand for the ten percent of cases that are actually reported; and the frightening number of annual reported cases is around 90,000. (Troiano, 2011) This only means that there are close to a million children abused every year (Parker, 2003), but sadly, most children are frightened to say anything. This fear comes from a power differential when a child faces an adult. Their lack of size and years create a difference in power, therefore leaving a child vulnerable and afraid. Many children are impacted by physical abuse, but a large portion of these children are neglected, emotionally abused, or even sexually assaulted. These types of abuse vary from case to case, but can be explained in very general ideas.

Physical abuse is when an adult has physical contact with a child in a violent manner and can be detected by bruises. (Troiano, 2011) Many times, it is hard to determine what bruises

define abuse because children are normally accident prone and get bumps and bruises from daily accidents. However, there is a difference in bruises from an abuser, and from accidents. Children, especially younger children, tend to fall on their hands, elbows, knees, and bump their heads; these types of injuries are usually accidental. When a child is found to have bruises in unusual areas on their bodies such as on their upper arms, thighs, torso, their buttocks, or genitalia, it is considered abuse. Bite marks are also monitored to determine whether it was done by an adult based on the size and abrasions