I hope that you are finding time for you to enjoy family and friends during this holiday season!  I received this Monday Morning Message from Teresa Huizar Director of the National Children’s Alliance and thought it was important to pass on this groundbreaking study and as always, thank you for caring so much about our children! 

Children’s Exposure to Violence

Good Morning - I hope this message finds all of you well.  During the holiday season, we are inundated with images of happy children gathered with friends and family to enjoy the festivities of the season.  But I want to remind you that many children - indeed, too many children - face a reality quite different from the images we see all around us. 

On October 7th, the Department of Justice released the new OJJDP Bulletin, entitled Children’s Exposure to Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey.  The Bulletin summarizes the results of the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence  (or “NatSCEV”), which is the most comprehensive study of its kind to examine the breadth, nature and implications of children’s exposure to violence.  The study was conducted by the University of New Hampshire’s Crimes Against Children Research Center , and was funded by OJJDP’s Safe Start Initiative and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The researchers from NatSCEV looked at exposure to violence in categories including physical assault, bullying, sexual victimization, child maltreatment, dating violence, and witnessed and indirect victimization.  The results of the study were startling:  more than 60% of children have been exposed to violence within the past year, either directly or indirectly by witnessing a violent act, learning of a threat against a family member or friend, or experiencing a threat against their home or school.  Findings also include the following:

·  One in 10 of the children surveyed suffered from child maltreatment

·  One in 16 were victimized sexually

·  Nearly 1 in 10 saw one family member assault another, and

·  Reports of lifetime exposure to violence were generally about one-third to one-half higher than reports of past-year exposure

According to the authors of the study, “reports of lifetime exposure also indicate how certain types of exposure change and accumulate as a child grows up; nearly one in five girls ages 14 to 17 (18.7 percent) had been the victim of a sexual assault or attempted sexual assault, and more than one-third of all 14- to 17-year-olds had seen a parent assaulted.”  Children’s Exposure to Violence, p. 2.

The authors go on to discuss the implications of the study for policymakers, researchers and practitioners, and conclude that one of the most effective ways to combat the effects of exposure to violence is to coordinate efforts across disciplines.  As advocacy centers, we have a unique opportunity to promote these efforts as part and parcel of the work in which we are already engaged.  I encourage you to review this study, and to share it with your MDT partners.  Together, we can make a difference.