An interesting characteristic of an abusive person is that they very often choose one victim, whether that is any one of the different kinds of abuse. This enables the abuser a much better chance of hiding their behaviour. Many families have been broken by claims of abuse where one child claims to have been sexually or emotionally abused and are not believed due to lack of evidence. Even with the evidence of physical abuse, it can be hard to prove when a whole family stands together against an accusation and asserts that the child is clumsy or must have been hurt elsewhere. Yet it is well known that any abusive person intended to get away with hiding that behaviour, thus making it easier to keep a victim in line and fulfill their needs that most of us would not understand and perhaps not the abusive person themselves. I don't know if any inclination to believe a majority in any situation makes sense when this method of operating is so prevalent.
