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Abstract
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The European Report on Preventing Child Maltreatment estimates that more than 18 million children younger than 18 years in the region suffer from maltreatment during their childhood, and at least 850 children younger than 15 years of age die from this abuse each year. Community surveys in Europe reveal that the prevalence of different types of abuse is high: 9·6% for sexual (13·4% in girls and 5·7% in boys), 22·9% for physical, and 29·1% for mental abuse, with no real gender differences.
The health consequences are severe. There is strong evidence that maltreatment in childhood leads to the development of mental ill health, such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm, and illicit drug use. A strong association with risky sexual behaviour and sexually transmitted infections also exists, and there is emerging evidence for the development of obesity and other non-communicable diseases in survivors. Together, the health care, social welfare, justice, and lost productivity costs of child maltreatment are very high, perhaps running into tens of billions of euros.
The report argues that much of this abuse is preventable through a public health approach. It helpfully provides an assessment of the effectiveness of universal and selective programmes to reduce child maltreatment and the risk factors for it. For example, programmes that intervene early with at-risk families, providing parenting support through the first few years of children's lives, are strongly supported by scientific evidence.
European research in this area lags behind that of the USA as evidenced by a recent Institute of Medicine reportNew Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research. Still, enough knowledge exists for prevention to become a key part of the response to child maltreatment in Europe.
Language: en |