Background: More than half of the children in the world experience some form of interpersonal violence every year. As compared with high-income countries, policy responses in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are limited due to resource constraints and paucity of evidence for effective interventions to reduce violence against children in…

In sub-Saharan Africa, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have far-reaching consequences for 550 million children under the age of 18. This UNICEF Child Alert examines how the disease and measures put in place to contain it are impacting the lives of children across the region, exacerbating existing threats like conflict, climate change and…

Objectives: The past decade has seen changes in US HIV policy in sub-Saharan Africa in response to a new Administration and far-reaching technical, scientific and programmatic developments. These include dramatically increased access to life-saving anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and related services, the roll-out of voluntary medical male…

This report presents key statistics relating to: (1) child malnutrition in Africa; (2) HIV/AIDS and Malaria in Africa; (3) child marriage, birth registration and Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C); (4) education in Africa; (5) child mortality in Africa; (6) Drinking water and sanitation in Africa; and (7) maternal health in Africa.…

Objective: The persecution of children as witches has received widespread reportage in the international mass media. In recent years, hundreds of children have been killed, maimed and abandoned across Africa based on individual and village-level accusations of witchcraft. Despite the media focus, to date, very little systematic study has…

Today, levels of mistreatment of children are internationally reported as having reached epidemic proportions. Throughout recorded history babies and young children have suffered acts of violence by parents, care providers and others. However, "some believe that, for the first time in history, we are beginning to face the true prevalence and…

Sierra Leone is only one of the more than 50 armed conflicts currently going on around the world. It is estimated that 20 million children were either refugees or displaced internally, and some 300,000 children under the age of 18 were used in hostilities at any given time as government or rebel soldiers, with about one-third reportedly fighting…

This article examines the possible role played by African folk literature, taking Setswana folktales as a case in point, in justifying and perpetuating the abusive behaviour so often witnessed and decried in postmodern society. We found some evidence that certain folktales may depict real-life child abuse by adults (male and female), and, indeed,…

Objectives: To gain consensus among an ethnically and linguistically diverse group of international child protection experts on the structure and content of a new survey tool for retrospective measurement of child abuse, and to determine the performance of the instrument through an international field trial with young adults. Methods: The…

Aside from Lotter's groundbreaking studies in six African countries, few studies about autism in Africa have been published. The samples in the published studies do not appear to be representative of children in the respective countries. Hence, it is difficult to determine the prevalence rate of the disorder in the countries. However, the studies…

In the last few years the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children has been gathering momentum, with a submission to "The United Nations Secretary General's study on violence against children" the most recent addition to the cause. Nevertheless, corporal punishment in schools is still condoned in many countries and…

The aim of the book is to serve for clinical, practical, basic and scholarly practices. In twentyfive chapters it covers the most important topics related to Autism Spectrum Disorders in the efficient way and aims to be useful for health professionals in training or clinicians seeking an update. Different people with autism can have very different…

Objective: This article reviews the English-language literature on child sexual abuse in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The focus is on the sexual abuse of children in the home/community, as opposed to the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Methods: English language, peer-reviewed papers cited in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) are…

This paper identifies themes of the Second African Conference on Child Abuse (1993), notes the importance of the breakdown of family structure, and stresses the importance of prevention. Prerequisites for prevention programs in developing countries are considered and development of a macro campaign and local micro efforts is urged. Examples of…

Presents a selective review of child abuse and emphasizes the need for standard procedures for referral, medical provisions, and legal reporting. Based on review of issues of establishing the dimensions of child maltreatment, offers recommendations for integrating critical issues for the present and future development of child abuse into practica…