[The prevalence of childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse and emotional neglect in Europe].

This paper concentrates on the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse and emotional neglect in Europe. It includes studies published in international journals or in easily accessible books. Data bases, specifically MEDLINE, PubMed, Psyndex and PsycInfo were used to find papers on this topic. Taking a broad view there is an incidence of sexual abuse experiences of 6-36 % in girls under the age of 16 years and of 1-15 % in boys under the age of 16. The incidence of physical abuse ranges from 5 to 50 % in Europe. There is a need for studies dealing with the prevalence of emotional neglect or psychological abuse. These figures are in line with those found in North America. However, due to the large differences in definitions and data gathering techniques, more precise conclusions are currently not possible.