Domestic violence and child sexual abuse
Retrospective analysis of the medical records of children admitted to the Pereira Rossell Hospital Center in the period 1/1998-12/2001
Keywords:
ABUSE OF CHILDREN, CHILD SEXUAL ABUSEAbstract
A descriptive and retrospective study to determined characteristics of children victims of violence and sexual abuse reported to the Centro Hospitalario Pereira Rossell (CHPR) during 1998-2001 is presented. Physical violence was seen in 61,2% and sexual abuse in 38,8% of the total cases. Physical violence as acts of omission or commission predominated in infants under 5 years old. Injuries most observed were those of soft body parts followed by cranio-encephalic trauma. A frequent predominance of sole parent families was seen, especially sole mothers mainly maltreated their children.
Highest percentage of sexual abuse occurred in their own household, girls were the primary victims and aggressors were biological and foster fathers.
An important percentage of children must be separated from their household, leading to emotional and psychological repercussions.
Pediatric surgeons in multidisciplinary teams should be considered under preventive perspectives since they first received children and may detect risk and protective factors.
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