Child Abuse and Neglect

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 Children may manifest abuse via destructive or withdrawn behaviours, developmental delays, injuries or other health problems.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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How societal responses to COVID-19 could contribute to child neglect

A. Bérubé, M.-È. Clément, V. Lafantaisie, A. LeBlanc, M. Baron, G. Picher, J. Turgeon, M. Ruiz-Casares, C. Lacharité - Child Abuse & Neglect, 15 Oct 2020

The purpose of this study is to examine parents’ reports on the response their children received to their needs during the COVID-19 crisis.

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Home or Care? A Comparison of Educational Outcomes for Maltreated Children

Linda Cusworth, Louise Tracey, Helen Baldwin, Nina Biehal - The British Journal of Social Work, 09 Oct 2020

In this study, educational outcomes for 68 children (aged 3–9 years) in foster-care due to concerns about abuse or neglect were compared to those for 166 children with current or past child welfare involvement living at home.

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Adverse caregiving in early life: The trauma and deprivation distinction in young children

Katherine L. Guyon‐Harris, Kathryn L. Humphreys, Charles H. Zeanah - Infant Mental Health Journal, 26 Sep 2020

In this article, the authors highlight a framework distinguishing experiences of trauma from experiences of deprivation and use the examples of posttraumatic stress disorder and reactive attachment disorder to demonstrate how greater specificity in our understanding of early adverse caregiving can lead to more accurate and targeted diagnosis and treatment for young children.

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Ending violence against children: What can global agencies do in partnership?

Shanti Raman, Tufail Muhammad, Jeffrey Goldhagen, Rajeev Seth, Ayesha Kadir, Sue Bennett, Danielle D’Annunzio, Nicholas J. Spencer, Zulfiqar A. Bhutta, Bernard Gerbaka - Child Abuse & Neglect, 22 Sep 2020

The authors of this paper report on the challenges and successes of their collaborative action at regional and supra-national levels, including opportunistic action.

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Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action & INSPIRE strategies: A Guide to Complementarity and Use in Humanitarian Action

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, Global Child Protection Area of Responsibility, the Global Partnership to End Violence against Children, UNHCR, UNICEF, 21 Sep 2020

The purpose of this note is to clarify the linkages and complementarity between INSPIRE seven strategies for ending violence against children and the 2019 Edition of the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (‘2019 CPMS’); and to provide some practical guidance on how to use INSPIRE and the 2019 CPMS in conjunction for preventing and responding to violence against children in humanitarian settings.

Some Challenges in Child Abuse Prevention in a Middle Income Country: The Brazilian Perspective

Lucia C. A. Williams, Viviane Dutra Gama, Ricardo P. Oliveira, Sabrina Mazo D’Affonseca - Child Abuse & Neglect, 20 Sep 2020

In this article, the authors present child abuse and neglect data available in Brazilian public health system platform and in a national childline reporting channel (Dial 100) from 2011-2017.

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Protected! Podcast Episode 9: Phoning for Help, the 10-9-8 Child Helpline in Nepal

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, 18 Sep 2020

In this podcast episode, Sumnima Tuladhar, a founding member and executive director of CWIN child helpline in Nepal, discusses how calls to the helpline changed when the COVID-19 pandemic reached Nepal. They discuss the processes drawn up to allow the helpline team to continue supporting children in dangerous situations.

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A Spatiotemporal Analysis of the Impact of COVID-19 on Child Abuse and Neglect in the City of Los Angeles, California

Gia E. Barboza, Lawrence B. Schiamberg, Layne Pachl - Child Abuse & Neglect, 16 Sep 2020

The purpose of this study was to provide unique insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of child abuse and neglect (CAN) in relation to COVID-19 outcomes and identify areas where CAN has increased or decreased during the pandemic.

How can services be improved to effectively address the mental health of vulnerable children and young people?

Victoria Lidchi & Andy Wiener - Child Abuse & Neglect, 11 Sep 2020

This discussion article describes a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in the United Kingdom developed to meet the mental health needs of children and young people particularly those vulnerable children and young people at risk of actual or potential harm through child abuse and neglect, but may not be therapy ready.

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Hidden scars: the impact of violence and the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s mental health

Najat Maalla M’jid - Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 10 Sep 2020

This article outlines how the risk of children experiencing violence has increased and how the pandemic has weakened the capacity of child protection and mental health services to respond.