US Department of Health and Human Services reports on Child Maltreatment.

For 2003, 48.3 percent of child victims were boys, and 51.7 percent of the victims were girls.

Who Maltreats Children More ?

Characteristics of Perpetrators

For 2003, 58.2 percent of the perpetrators were women and 41.8 percent were men.1 Female perpetrators were typically younger than male perpetrators. The median age of perpetrators was 31 years for women and 34 years for men.

More than 80 percent (83.9%) of victims were abused by at least one parent. Approximately two-fifths (40.8%) of child victims were maltreated by their mothers acting alone; another 18.8 percent were maltreated by their fathers acting alone; 16.9 percent were abused by both parents.13 Victims abused by nonparental perpetrators accounted for 13.4 percent of the total.