Child maltreatment Cases Referred to Sohag’s Medico-legal Department, Ministry of Justice: Retrospective and Prospective Medico-legal Evaluation

Abstract

Child maltreatment is a serious global problem in all socioeconomic groups. This can lead to serious, long-lasting physical and/or psychological damage that extends to adulthood. Aim of work: the present study aims to evaluate different medico-legal aspects of confirmed child maltreatment cases at Sohag's medico-legal department of the ministry of justice, retrospectively and prospectively with demographic description and comparative analysis between the two parts of the study. Methods: this study included confirmed cases of child maltreatment at Sohag's medico-legal department of the ministry of justice, retrospectively at the year 2011 (the year of 25th Egyptian revolution) data collected from the reported files and prospectively at the year 2017 data collected during the examination or autopsy of the confirmed analysis cases with of the perpetrators' relationship to the victims. Results: the retrospective part revealed 112 cases (81 living and 31 dead); the male-to-female ratio was 4:1. Physical maltreatment was predominant (46.4%), followed by combined patterns (34.8%) and then sexual abuse (14.3%). The autopsy of the dead cases revealed that hemorrhagic shock was the main cause of deaths (46.7%) followed by brain injury (23.3%). The prospective analysis revealed 91 cases (51 living and 40 dead); the male-to-female ratio was 3:1. Physical abuse was predominant (45.1%), followed by equal percentages of neglect and sexual abuse (25.3%). The autopsy of the dead cases revealed that hemorrhage and asphyxia were the main causes of deaths (47.5% and 37.5%, respectively). Extrafamilial perpetrators (friends, neighbors, drivers, and teachers) were the most reported individuals in retrospective and prospective analyses with no sufficient data that could be collected in approximately onethird of the cases in 2011 and in more than one-fourth of the cases in 2017. Conclusion: forensic examination of child maltreatment cases at the Sohag governorate as one of the upper egypt governorates provided evidence on the magnitude of the problem in upper egypt. The comparison of the medico-legal aspects between the retrospective part in the revolution period and the prospective part of the post revolution period revealed that similar results of most studied aspects with little difference have been observed in the child maltreatment pattern, which might be related to post revolution's social circumstances in egypt.