There are many myths of child abuse. Since all of them cannot be covered, some of the more significant will be discussed. Among them are the myths concerning the professionals and child protection agencies, the effects of abuse on children, including gender, socio-economic status of the family, and whether or not the child is telling the truth about the abuse.

There are many myths when it comes to professionals and the child protection agencies when dealing with child abuse. One of these myths is that professionals are solely responsible for protecting children. Social workers have been expected to make sure that children are safe. However to effectively do this they must rely on information from parents, family, friends, schoolteachers, and other professionals, including members of the local community.  All of which play an important part in identifying concerns about those close to them (Myths and Realities, 2007). Another myth comes from the faulty belief that if a concerned person reports possible child abuse, it will result in the child being removed from home by a social worker.  This is not the main aim of child protection investigations and rarely happens. Social workers will only remove children from home with a court order, having demonstrated that there is serious and immediate risk. In emergency situations the Police have power to remove a child for up to 72 hours (Myths and Realities, 2007). 

People have a tendency to believe that reporting suspected abuse to the state child protection authorities can cause more harm than the abuse itself.  Sometimes people are concerned about children being negatively affected by their efforts to protect and treat them, which may include legal ramifications. However, survivors of abuse say that the continued abuse causes more harm than action taken to stop the abuse (Myths and Realities about Child Abuse, 2004). 

There are also myths about what many consider not being child abuse.  One such instance is that if children don't witness domestic violence (or violence between adults in the home) they are not affected by it. The reality is children do not need to see violence between adults in their family to know that it is happening. Children see the aftermath of violence in their home, and the impact of the violence on other victims. Relationships between children and their parents are significantly affected by the violence that occurs between the adults (Myths and Realities about Child Abuse, 2004).  For many people it is easy to ignore that child abuse doesn’t lead to depression, drug abuse, and homelessness in later life. 

Children suffer the long-standing effect of physical and emotional, while some children even die. The effect on children and young people can vary depending on factors including the type of abuse, the duration and frequency of abuse, and the relationship they have with the person who abused them. Research is consistently showing that the majority of adults who experience problems like depression, drug abuse, unemployment, relationship difficulties, homelessness and criminal behavior have been abused as children (Myths and Realities about Child Abuse, 2004).  When it comes to emotionally abused children, people may think that they may have no trouble developing trusting relationships.  Children who are repeatedly emotionally abused frequently become emotionally impaired adults. Many become incapable of forming lasting and meaningful attachments to others (Myths and Facts about Child Abuse, n.d.).

There also myths about gender with child sexual abuse. One of these myths is that boys are rarely victims of sexual abuse.  Most, but not all, victims of child sexual abuse are girls. In approximately one quarter of all child sexual abuse cases reported the victim is a boy. There is some evidence to suggest that sexual abuse of boys is not reported as readily, so the proportion of sexual abuse happening to boys may be higher (Myths and Realities about Child Abuse, 2004).  Another myth about gender is that ninety percent of sexual abuse victims are girls.  The Badgley report estimates that 1 in 2 females and 1 in 5 males are victims of an unwanted sexual act before the age of nineteen (Myths and Facts about Child Abuse, n.d.).

People also think that child abuse doesn't happen in well educated families. Child abuse happens in every type of family. It is important to remember that adults who abuse and neglect children are responsible for their own behavior. They may be influenced in their actions by factors such as their own experiences as a child and what they learned about how to treat children. However, this must not be used as an excuse for their behavior or to deny the experiences of the victim (Myths and Realities about Child Abuse, 2004).  People may also believe that normal appearing, well-educated; middle-class people don't molest children. One of the public's most dangerous assumptions is the belief that a person who both appears and acts normal could not be a child molester. Sex offenders are well aware of our propensity for making assumptions about private behavior from one's public presentation. (Eight Common Myths about Child Sexual Abuse, 2005).

Children are sometimes to blame for their abuse or are accused for lying about the abuse.  Children are never to blame for the abuse they suffer from adults. Adults are always responsible for their own behaviors to children. No matter how children behave, an adult never has any right to abuse a child (Myths and Realities about Child Abuse, 2004). Adults sometimes think that children make up stories about abuse. Children rarely lie about abuse. Children's disclosures of abuse may vary in their content because of their reluctance and fear to tell what has happened (Myths and Realities about Child Abuse, 2004).  Just because children later retract their story after disclosing about their abuse, people think they were lying about the abuse. Children who disclose experiences of abuse can become aware of very serious consequences. For example, their parents may be very upset or in conflict with each other or with the friend or relative the allegation is about. Children may fear that the parent they have disclosed about will be removed from the family or that they may be removed from the family themselves. Adults may pressure them to retract using threats of more abuse, by frightening them about likely serious consequences or with more subtle forms of pressure. The shocked and angry reactions of some adults when they hear about abuse can make it very difficult for children to continue to speak out (Myths and Realities about Child Abuse, 2004).  If asked about abuse, people think that children tend to exaggerate and are prone to making false accusations. Contrary to the popular misconception, research shows that children often minimize and deny, rather than embellish what has happened to them (Eight Common Myths about Child Sexual Abuse, 2005).

These misconceptions of child abuse are believed to be true by many people. Research and evidence shows that these myths of the professionals and child protection agencies, of the effects of abuse on children, of gender, of socio-economic status of the family, and of whether or not the child is telling the truth about the abuse are only misconceptions.  The general public can become more aware of the truths of child abuse as they become more aware of their misconceptions, and try to gain more knowledge of the realities of child abuse.