The large study below shows that child abuse is traumatic and sexual abuse happens to one in four women and one in six men.
The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is one of the largest investigations ever conducted on the links between childhood maltreatment and later-life health and well-being. As a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente's Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego, Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) members undergoing a comprehensive physical examination provided detailed information about their childhood experience of abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction. Over 17,000 members chose to participate....The ACE Study findings suggest that these experiences are major risk factors for the leading causes of illness and death as well as poor quality of life in the United States. _http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/ACE/_ (http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/ACE/) Childhood abuse, neglect, and exposure to other traumatic stressors which we term adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are common. Almost two-thirds of our study participants reported at least one ACE, and more than one in five reported three or more ACE. The short- and long-term outcomes of these childhood exposures include a multitude of health and social problems....as the number of ACE increase, the risk for the following health problems increases in a strong and graded fashion: * alcoholism and alcohol abuse * chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) * depression * fetal death * health-related quality of life * illicit drug use * ischemic heart disease (IHD) * liver disease * risk for intimate partner violence * multiple sexual partners * sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) * smoking * suicide attempts * unintended pregnancies _http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/ACE/findings.htm_ (http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/ACE/findings.htm) Prevalence of Individual Adverse Childhood Experiences Women (N = 9,367) Men (N = 7,970) (N = 17,337) Abuse Women Men Total Emotional Abuse 13.1 7.6 10.6 Physical Abuse 27.0 29.9 28.3 Sexual Abuse 24.7 16.0 20.7 _http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/ACE/prevalence.htm_ (http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/ACE/prevalence.htm) Johnny Gosch: A Proof of Life _http://www.franklinfiles.net/index.spark?aBID=120661&p=3&topicID=34290611_ (http://www.franklinfiles.net/index.spark?aBID=120661&p=3&topicID=34290611)
