Abstract
Rates of violence against children are high in Sub-Saharan Africa and information is scarce on the resulting injuries. This study investigates sex-related differences in the circumstances and consequences of sexual and physical violence in the Mozambican context. Hospital records from 2019 at the pediatric emergency and forensic medicine units of Maputo Central Hospital were scrutinized using a standardized form. Of the 321 cases identified, 60% resulted from sexual violence. Girls represented 86.4% of the victims of sexual violence and boys, 66.1% of those from physical violence. Being injured in a familiar environment and by a parent, a relative, or someone known was strikingly common. The injury pattern varied by form of violence and sex of the child. About half of the injuries sustained by physical violence were minor/superficial. Severe injuries requiring hospitalization (33% in total) and some specialized care (27% in total) were mainly sustained by girl victims of sexual violence. While circumstances and consequences of violence-related injuries have several similarities, being severely injured is more typical of girl victims of sexual violence. Besides medical care, hospital services in Mozambique must be prepared to offer pediatric victims of violence the necessary social care.
Highlights
Worldwide, violence-related injury is an increasing problem during childhood and becomes more common as the child gets older, especially in low-income countries [1].Globally, the one-year prevalence of physical, sexual, or psychological violence or neglect is estimated at up to 1 billion among children aged 2–17, roughly half the children in the world [2]
We identified a total of 321 cases of violence-related injuries affecting children at MCH, of which 143 were from pediatric emergency (44.5%) and 178 at forensic medicine (55.5%)
The victims were brought to the hospital mainly by their parents and victims presented at forensic medicine were reported to the police beforehand
Summary
The one-year prevalence of physical, sexual, or psychological violence or neglect is estimated at up to 1 billion among children aged 2–17, roughly half the children in the world [2]. The lifetime prevalence of child physical violence in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Ranges between 42% and 66% in girls and 53% and 76% in boys and that of sexual violence, from 5% to 36%, for both girls and boys [5,6]. In Mozambique, the context of this study, it is estimated that have 24% of girls and 34% of boys experienced physical violence and 14% of girls and 8% of boys have experienced sexual violence in their childhood [7]
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