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 Children may manifest abuse via destructive or withdrawn behaviours, developmental delays, injuries or other health problems.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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Study Report on Good Practices in Family Preservation and Prevention of Family Separation Programming in Cambodia

Kirsten Anderson - Coram Children’s Legal Centre (CCLC), 2019

This report provides in-depth analysis of programs of 7 different NGOs in Cambodia working on the prevention of family separation and family preservation in order to respond to risks related to physical and mental well-being and domestic violence.

Module 2 of the Parenting without Violence Bronze Course: How Parenting without Violence Works

Save the Children, 2019

This module is the second part of the Parenting without Violence Bronze Course. It focuses on the course's second learning outcome by sharing more about HOW Parenting without Violence works.

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The National Alternative Care Policy for Children in Sri Lanka

Ministry of Woman and Child Affairs and Dry Zone Development Department of Probation and Child Care Services, 2019

Sri Lanka's National Policy on the Alternative Care of Children outlines a comprehensive range of alternative care options and encourages the reforming of all formal structures that provide at-home and out-of-home services for children deprived of care and protection or at risk of being so. This policy also extends to children under care of the Juvenile Justice System. It provides policy solutions to programming for children at risk of family separation and facing deprivations such as child abuse, neglect, child labor, poverty, addiction, imprisonment, human trafficking, mental and physical disabilities, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, orphanhood, abandonment and displacement etc. The policy also takes into consideration and encompasses provisions to children who are forced to live and work on streets.

Responding to Adverse Childhood Experiences: An evidence review of interventions to prevent and address adversity across the life course

Lisa C.G. Di Lemma, Alisha R. Davies, Kat Ford, Karen Hughes, Lucia Homolova, Benjamin Gray, and Gillian Richardson - Public Health Wales and Bangor University, 2019

To support innovation in addressing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), the authors have undertaken a review of evidence on common approaches to prevent ACEs and/or mitigate their negative impacts in Wales.

Factsheet: Best Practices for Video-Recorded Interviews

Emil Flam, Indico Systems - PROMISE, 2019

This factsheet reviews best practices for conducting a digital interview recording (DIR) with children who have experienced or witnessed violence.

ការសិក្សាស្តីពីការអនុវត្តល្អក្នុងការរៀបចំកម្មវិធីការថែរក្សាកុមារក្នុងគ្រួសារ និងការបង្ការ ការបំបែកកុមារពីគ្រួសារក្នុងប្រទេសកម្ពុជា

Kirsten Anderson - Coram Children’s Legal Centre (CCLC), 2019

This report (in Khmer) provides in-depth analysis of programs of 7 different NGOs in Cambodia working on the prevention of family separation and family preservation in order to respond to risks related to physical and mental well-being and domestic violence.

Prevention: Implementing Evidence-Based Programs

Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2019

This episode of the Child Welfare Information Gateway podcast is part of a series focusing on Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) grantees.

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Child Protection in Families with Parental Mental Illness

Albermann K, Wiegand-Grefe S, Winter S - Europe PMC, 2019

This paper presents different instruments for the assessment of child abuse in families with parental mental illness.

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Module 3 of the Parenting without Violence Bronze Course: Integrating Parenting without Violence into our Work

Save the Children, 2019

This module is the third part of the Parenting without Violence Bronze Course. The module identifies concrete ways to integrate Parenting without Violence into your work.

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“I’m in two minds about it” : decision variability in child protection

Dr. Emily Keddell & Dr. Ian Hyslop - University of Otago, 2019

Decisions in the child protection context take place in a complex environment influenced by individual decision-makers, institutional resources and practices, demographic inequalities, and family responses. This report describes some of these factors as reported by practitioners in the child protection context in Aotearoa New Zealand, providing an insight into the experiences and perceptions of front-line practitioners.