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 Children may manifest abuse via destructive or withdrawn behaviours, developmental delays, injuries or other health problems.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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Congregate Care Settings in the United States

Rebecca D. Webster, Jeremy Wente, Sheri R. Parris, and Adrian V. Rus - Child Maltreatment in Residential Care, 03 Aug 2017

This chapter in Child Maltreatment in Residential Care provides a brief history of congregate care in the United States and the experiences of maltreatment of children and youth within congregate care settings as they shifted over time.

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Interaction Competencies with Children (ICC): An Approach for Preventing Violence, Abuse, and Neglect in Institutional Care in Sub-Saharan Africa

Tobias Hecker, Getrude Mkinga, Joseph Ssenyonga, and Katharin Hermenau - Child Maltreatment in Residential Care, 03 Aug 2017

This chapter of Child Maltreatment in Residential Care describes Interaction Competencies with Children – for Caregivers (ICC-C), a preventative intervention approach to improve the quality of care and reduce the incidence of maltreatment within institutional care settings in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Experiences of Victimization by Peers and Staff in Residential Care for Children at Risk in Israel from an Ecological Perspective

Shalhevet Attar-Schwartz - Child Maltreatment in Residential Care, 03 Aug 2017

This study analyzed the experiences of victimization by peers and staff of adolescents living in Israeli residential care settings.

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Child Neglect in Guyana

ChildLinK with support from Guyana Childcare & Protection Agency, the European Union and Family for Every Child, 01 Aug 2017

This study, commissioned by ChildLinK, critically examines the factors of child neglect by caregivers in Guyana and offers recommendations for key stakeholders across various disciplines.

Africa Expert Consultation on Violence against Children in All Care Settings

Better Care Network & African Child Policy Forum, with support from CRS, Family for Every Child, Hope and Homes for Children and Save the Children , 21 Jul 2017

On 21-22 June 2017, the African Child Policy Forum and Better Care Network - with the support of Catholic Relief Services, Family for Every Child, Hope and Homes for Children and Save the Children - convened 40 leaders representing child rights bodies, regional economic communities, national governments and civil society in Nairobi, Kenya for the Africa Expert Consultation: Violence Against Children in All Care Settings.

Secondary Data Review: Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC) — The Kasaï Crisis

Global Education Cluster & Global Child Protection Area of Responsibility , 20 Jul 2017

This document is based on a secondary data matrix compiled by the global Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR) and by the Global Education Cluster using the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action and the Minimum Standards for Education: Preparedness, Response, Recovery of the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) as an analysis framework.

Exit Outcomes for Probation-Supervised Youth in Foster Care: An Examination of Past Child Protection Involvement

Andrea Lane Eastman & Emily Putnam-Hornstein - Child Maltreatment, 14 Jul 2017

This study investigated the connection between past child protective services involvement and type of exit from care for youth in probation-supervised foster care.

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Country Care Review: Romania

Better Care Network , 13 Jul 2017

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child during the seventy-fifth session (15 May 2017 - 02 Jun 2017) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Too Hard? Highly Vulnerable Teens in Tasmania

Catherine Robinson - Anglicare Tasmania, 02 Jul 2017

This report presents the findings of an investigation on a cohort of highly vulnerable teens (aged 10-17 years) whose needs for care have fallen outside families, between government agencies and between non-government services. The report identifies the gaps in care received by this cohort and offers key recommendations for how these gaps might be filled.

Review of youth detention centres

Kathryn McMillan QC & Megan Davis, 28 Jun 2017

This independent review into Queensland's youth detention centres examined the practices, operation and oversight of the state's two youth detention centres in Townsville and Brisbane, in addition to evaluating the effectiveness of programs and services delivered in Queensland's youth detention centres.

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