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 Children may manifest abuse via destructive or withdrawn behaviours, developmental delays, injuries or other health problems.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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They ask for protection: An exploratory study into experiences with violence among unaccompanied refugee children in Dutch reception facilities

A. E. Zijlstra, M. C. Menninga, E. C. C. van Os, M. E. Kalverboer - Child Abuse & Neglect, 09 Mar 2020

This qualitative study explores the experiences of unaccompanied children with regard to violence in reception facilities in the Netherlands from the perspective of the children.

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Survivors’ lived experiences of posttraumatic growth after institutional childhood abuse: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Grace Sheridan & Alan Carr - Child Abuse & Neglect, 03 Mar 2020

The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of posttraumatic growth (PTG) in adult survivors of institutional childhood abuse in Ireland.

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Protective Factors Approaches in Child Welfare

Child Welfare Information Gateway, 01 Mar 2020

This issue brief provides an overview of U.S. national protective factors approaches to prevent child abuse and neglect.

Pre-legislative public consultation on financial redress for historical child abuse in care: Analysis of responses

Simon Anderson, Dawn Griesbach, Becki Lancaster, Alison Platts and Jennifer Waterton - Scottish Government, 01 Mar 2020

This report presents findings from an independent analysis of the responses to a public consultation issued by the Scottish Government in September 2019, which invited views on its specific proposals for the establishment of a statutory financial redress scheme for victims / survivors of abuse in care.

Prevalence of child maltreatment in the Netherlands: An update and cross-time comparison

Sheila R. van Berkel, Mariëlle J. L. Prevoo, Mariëlle Linting, Fieke D. Pannebakker, Lenneke R. A. Alink - Child Abuse & Neglect, 29 Feb 2020

The third Netherlands’ Prevalence study of Maltreatment of children and youth (NPM-2017) provides an update of the current prevalence rates of child maltreatment and of changes in its prevalence over the last 12 years. In addition, risk factors for child maltreatment and its co-occurrence with domestic violence were investigated.

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Strengthening child agency to prevent and overcome maltreatment

Gerison Lansdown - Child Abuse & Neglect, 27 Feb 2020

This paper examines the inter-relationship between the rights to protection and to participation that are embodied in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Autobiographical Memory Impairment in Adolescents in Out-of-Home Care

María Verónica Jimeno, Jose Miguel Latorre, María José Cantero - Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24 Feb 2020

In this study, autobiographical memory tests, working memory, and a depressive symptom assessment were administered to 48 adolescents in care with a history of maltreatment (22 abused and 26 neglected) without mental disorder, who had been removed from their family and were living in residential child care, and to 61 adolescents nonmaltreated who had never been placed in care.

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Children’s participation: A new role for children in the field of child maltreatment

Hanita Kosher & Asher Ben-Arieh - Child Abuse & Neglect, 20 Feb 2020

This article discusses the interaction between protection of maltreated children and their participation. Five aspects of child participation in the field of child maltreatment will be presented: children's participation in the definition of child maltreatment phenomena; children's participation in measuring the prevalence of child maltreatment; children's participation in clinical assessments; children's participation in in the decision-making process in child protection system; and children's participation in the efforts to prevent child maltreatment.

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Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) in the Czech Republic

Miloš Velemínský Sr., Olga Dvořáčková, Jana Samková, Michael Rost, Dinesh Sethi, Miloš Velemínský Jr., 13 Feb 2020

A cross-sectional survey was undertaken to estimate the prevalence of child maltreatment and adverse childhood experiences in the Czech Republic, as data on these is scarce.

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Preventing child sexual abuse: A systematic review of interventions and their efficacy in developing countries

D. Russell, D. Higgins, A. Posso -Child Abuse & Neglect, 13 Feb 2020

The authors of this paper systematically reviewed research on the nature of child sexual abuse interventions in developing countries, the settings and populations included to identify types of child sexual abuse prevention initiatives being implemented in developing countries and their effectiveness.

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