This paper estimates the scale of maltreatment (abuse?) of children in New Zealand. Maltreatment included: neglect, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. 1 in 4 children had been subject to at least one report to Child Protection Services at age 17 years (23.5%), and 9.7% had been a victim of substantiated abuse or neglect. These numbers are staggeringly high, and we shouldn't think our own society is any different from New Zealand.
An accompanying editorial tells the story of what happened when similar data were presented at a conference in the USA. Marietta Higgs probably got it wrong, but this is very, very difficult territory.