WHO Guidelines for the health sector response to child maltreatment

Overview

Every year up to 1 billion children experience physical, sexual or psychological violence. These new WHO guidelines aim to help frontline healthcare providers to recognize children who have suffered from violence and neglect and provide evidence-based first line support. Specifically, the guidelines focus on:

• Identification of children who are exposed to abuse or neglect
• Supportive communication with children suspected to be victims of abuse or neglect
• Assessing and addressing the safety of the child
• Interacting with caregivers in suspected cases of child maltreatment
• Providing immediate medical and psychosocial support for children exposed to child maltreatment
• Collecting medical history, conducting physical exams and appropriate documentation of findings

These new guidelines complement Responding to children and adolescents who have been sexually abused: WHO clinical guidelines which were published in 2017. A short practical handbook and training package, which will help to put the recommendations of the two guidelines into practice, are currently being developed.