Research within clinical populations consistently finds that girls are more often abused than boys, although research focused on the broader population
of community youth has not shown such gender differences in rates
of physical maltreatment.72 Female offenders typically are abused before their first
offense.73 Among girls in the California juvenile justice system, 92 percent report some
form of emotional, physical, or
sexual abuse.74 Self - reported victimization rates among boys in the juvenile justice system are considerably lower, though boys may be more likely than girls to underreport certain
forms of abuse.75 Some studies report abuse rates for males between 25 percent and 31 percent, while others report rates
of 10 percent for
sexual abuse and 47 percent for physical abuse.76 Closer comparison reveals that delinquent males and females tend to report different types
of traumas as well.