Child neglect most common form of abuse: study

Child neglect most common form of abuse: study

Neglect is the most common form of child mistreatment in Canada and the physical damage can be even more devastating than sexual abuse, a study has found.

The government-funded study, released Monday at a youth-protection conference, found that neglect made up 34% of all youth-protection investigations that are found to have merit.

Neglected children were more likely to require medical treatment than children who had suffered physical, sexual or emotional abuse, says the study sponsored by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Peter M. Dudding, executive director of the Ottawa-based Child Welfare League of Canada, told QMI Agency that years of neglect can hurt a child worse than a single punch, slap or even sexual encounter.

Note: But according to the same people a kid is so traumatized by that one spanking he got when he was two, that everything they do to these kids is justified.