Back in the Seventies and Eighties, there was no name for what was happening to them. Now it is child abuse', a famous crime, a red handle they can grab for- (The Guardian, 20 February 2000:28).
Statistics of child abuse in general are unreliable. It is difficult for researchers to gather statistics on the subject of child abuse since it is a very sensitive topic; very few cases are documented or reported and many of the victims involved are very reluctant to participate in research (Brackenridge, 1997). Home Office figures state that "of men born in England and Wales in 1953, 7 in 1000 have a conviction of sexual offences against a child, by age 40- (One in Four website, 2003). This refers only to men, not women, who have been charged and convicted of an offence. When you consider that only 5% of cases get reported and of that 5% only 35% lead to charges, it is clear to see that there is a huge amount of unreported offences against children in Britain (One in Four website, 2003).
In society today, there is a large percentage of the population that believe strangers are the biggest danger to their children. A common explanation of this is the sensationalist media coverage of a few high profile cases such as Sarah Payne and the two girls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, from Soham. "Panics about children's safety are interpreted as media led and television is accused of making parents unnecessarily paranoid and apprehensive- (Furedi, 2002: 32). However, the assumption of abuse by strangers needs to be challenged. This is not to say it does not happen, it clearly does, but most abuse is by a trusted person. Finkelhor claims that the "biggest perils are close at hand. Between 50 to 100 kids are killed a year by strangers, whereas there are 1000 killed by parents- (cited in Furedi, 2002: 36).
Defining the problem.
Bavolek (1994: 12) defines child abuse in sports as any adult behaviour "which results in the direct or indirect physical and/or emotional harm to children-.
