Child Abuse and Neglect | Better Care Network

Child abuse includes all forms of physical and emotional mistreatment, sexual abuse, and neglect of a child’s basic needs, which results in actual or potential harm to a child’s physical, mental, and emotional health. Exploitation of children is also a form of abuse and includes trafficking for sexual or economic purposes, and recruitment of children into armed forces.

An abused child may experience many forms of mistreatment in any one incident or over time; for example, emotional harm is a pervading factor in all types of abuse. The abuser may be a family member, a stranger, another child, or someone responsible for a child's well-being, such as a teacher or caretaker.

Children in every society are vulnerable to abuse, gender based violence, and exploitation, however children without parental care and those in high risk environments such as conflict areas, refugee camps, on the street, or in institutions, are particularly exposed to violence, denial of their basic human rights, and deprivation. All abuse has its origins in power imbalance and therefore is typically associated with fear, secrecy, and control. This makes identifying and speaking out about abuse very difficult for children, family members, the community and social services, particularly when it is committed within the privacy of the home.

Child abuse can cause physical and psychosocial problems, including HIV/AIDS infection, and is particularly damaging when repeated over a period of time. Children may manifest abuse via destructive or withdrawn behaviours, developmental delays, injuries or other health problems. The effects of abuse will vary from child to child and depend on the source, type and extent of the abuse, the child’s developmental stage and their disposition or resilience.

The process of identifying and responding to abuse requires skilled interventions in order to prevent further harm to the child, and will typically include police, medical, psychological, and social services in order to address the safety, physical, and emotional needs of the affected children. Any care plan must be in the best interests of the child and protect them and their siblings from harm. This will include consideration of the additional risks of abuse that are present for children in institutions and care placements. Such closed environments are extremely susceptible to abuse since they are frequently isolated, insufficiently regulated, and lacking in adequate supervision and safe reporting procedures. It is the role of social services to screen and monitor all child placements, including institutional, kinship, and foster care, to ensure the child’s safety and well-being.

It is the responsibility of the whole community to protect its children. Education and community awareness for children and adults on the risks, signs of abuse, and responses is vital for children without parental care and those in high risk situations, such as during a conflict or displacement when sexual violence, exploitation, and recruitment into armed forces are prevalent.

The literature in this section describes the types of abuse in more detail, including gender based violence, and provides example child protection procedures, policy papers, and other intervention tools.

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Child Welfare and Child Protection: An Introduction

David Royse and Austin Griffiths, 2020

This book prepares future child welfare professionals to tackle the complex and challenging work associated with responding to child maltreatment.

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Perceptions of Violence within Child Protection Systems in Russia: Views of Children, Parents, and Social Workers

Veronika Odinokova, Maia Rusakova, Vladlena Avdeeva - Victim, Perpetrator, or What Else?, 08 Nov 2019

This is a study on perceptions of child abuse and interventions in cases of abuse in the Family and Childhood Support Centres in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

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Truth Project Thematic Report: Child sexual abuse in the context of children’s homes and residential care

Claire Soares, Grace Ablett, Beth Mooney, Dr Sophia King - The Truth Project, The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, 01 Nov 2019

This is the second research publication in a series of thematic reports examining what victims and survivors have shared with the Truth Project about their experiences of child sexual abuse and the institutional context in which it occurred. It details the research findings in relation to experiences of child sexual abuse that occurred in the context of children’s homes and residential care in England and Wales.

Using family network data in child protection services

Alex James,Jeanette McLeod, Shaun Hendy, Kip Marks, Delia Rusu, Syen Nik, Michael J. Plank - PLoS ONE, 29 Oct 2019

In this study, the authors analyse a child protection services dataset that includes a network of approximately 5 million social relationships collected by social workers between 1996 and 2016 in New Zealand to test the potential of information about family networks to improve accuracy of models used to predict the risk of child maltreatment.

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Integrating Violence Against Children Prevention and Response into HIV Services: Participants Manual

LVCT Health, Maestral International, 02 Oct 2019

This Participants' Manual is part of the Integrating Violence Against Children Prevention and Response into HIV Services Training Package. It provides background information, tools and learning aids for participants.

Integrating Violence Against Children Prevention and Response into HIV Services

LVCT Health, Maestral International, 02 Oct 2019

This training seeks to equip health workers who have contact with children in HIV settings with the knowledge and skills to better integrate violence against children (VAC) services into their work.

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Integrating Violence Against Children Prevention and Response into HIV Services: Facilitator Manual

LVCT Health, Maestral International, 02 Oct 2019

This Facilitator Manual is part of the Integrating Violence Against Children Prevention and Response into HIV Services Training Package. It an overview of the workshop, detailed agenda, facilitation notes and training preparation tools.

Evaluation Framework & Impact Assessment Guidance and Template

Olivia Lind Haldorsson - Council of the Baltic Sea States, 01 Oct 2019

The Promise evaluation and impact assessment templates in this resource provide inspiration and examples for both evaluation and impact assessment of the Barnahus model's performance.

Standard 2 - Multidisciplinary & Interagency Collaboration: Interagency Agreement Template and Guidance

Olivia Lind Haldorsson - Council of the Baltic Sea States Secretariat and Child Circle, 01 Oct 2019

This document offers inspiration and guidance for drafting an interagency agreement which formalises multidisciplinary and interagency (MDIA) team collaboration between agencies involved in Barnahus (a child-friendly, interdisciplinary and multi-agency centre for child victims and witnesses where children could be interviewed and medically examined for forensic purposes, comprehensively assessed and receive all relevant therapeutic services from appropriate professionals).

Country Care Review: El Salvador

Better Care Network, 01 Oct 2019

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as part of its examination of El Salvador's initial reports, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.