The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services compiles statistics on cases of child maltreatment that are reported to the authorities. According to these statistics, in 2007, there were almost 800,000 incidents of child maltreatment in the United States. Over half the reports involved neglect, 13 percent multiple forms of abuse, 10.8 percent physical abuse, and 7.6 percent sexual abuse. Of course this includes only the cases that were reported. We can assume that the real incidence of abuse is far higher.