Family profile of victims of child abuse and neglect in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objectives:To describe the family profile of child abuse and neglect (CAN) subjects in Saudi Arabia.Methods:Data were collected retrospectively between July 2009 and December 2013 from patients’ files, which were obtained from the Child Protection Centre (CPC) based in King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Four main sets of variables were examined: demographics of victim, family profile, parental information, and information on perpetrator and forms of abuse.Results:The charts of 220 CAN cases were retrospectively reviewed. Physical abuse was the most common form of abuse (42%), followed by neglect (39%), sexual abuse (14%), and emotional abuse (4%). Children with unemployed fathers were 2.8 times as likely to experience physical abuse. Children living in single/step-parent households were 4 times as likely to experience physical abuse. Regarding neglect children living in larger households (≥6) were 1.5 times as likely to be neglected by their parents as were children living in smaller households (<6). Regarding sexual abuse, male children were 2.9 times as likely to be abused as were female children.Conclusions:The recent acknowledgment of CAN as a public health problem in Saudi Arabia suggests that time will be needed to employ effective and culturally sensitive prevention strategies based on family risk factors.

Perfil dos casos de violência interpessoal e/ou autoprovocada atendidos em um hospital público do Paraná, 2014 a 2018

“…Para raça/cor, prevaleceu a branca com um total de biente familiar e relatou uma média de idade parecida, que permeava entre 4,61 e 6,72 anos de idade. [14][15][16][17] Sobre a escolaridade das vítimas de violências, a distribuição mais frequente foi o campo 'não se aplica', com 711 casos (43,2%). Este achado justifica-se pela prevalência da distribuição das agressões por faixa etária entre menores não escolarizados, seguida de 218 (13,1%) casos para 5ª a 8ª série incompleta e 138 (8,3%) para ensino médio incompleto.…”

“…21 Um dos fatores que influenciam diretamente essas características e encontrado em análise da situação familiar nos casos de violência doméstica, foi a evidência de que filhos de pai desempregado tinham 2,8 vezes mais chances de serem vítimas de abuso físico. 17 Com base nas variáveis que expressam dados do autor da violência, pode ser analisada a predominância em ambos os sexos, com 35,9% dos casos notificados. Houve atuação de dois suspeitos nos casos de violência e equiparação entre feminino e masculino em casos onde apenas um foi o autor do agravo, com 27,5 e 27,7% dos casos, consecutivamente.…”

“…Este dado retrata o perfil da constituição da família, em que na maioria dos casos, apenas a mãe e a criança vivem no domicílio. [13][14][15][16][17] Além disso, as vítimas de famílias monoparental possuem cerca de quatro vezes mais chances de sofrer abusos físicos, em comparação com vítimas de famílias contendo ambos os pais. Estaria mais relacionado ao fato, a punição ser um dos preditores para acontecimento da violência.…”

Family profile of victims of child abuse and neglect in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“…I read with interest, the recent study on “family profile of victims of child abuse and neglect in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” by Alghamdi & Saleheen. 1 Abuse is defined as an act of commission and neglect as an act of omission. This is a pervasive national problem throughout the world with a short and long term physical, mental health, and social consequences to the child, family, and community at large.…”

The Extent of Negligence of Children in Saudi Arabia: A Literature Review

“…Thus, one study involving just 5% of all adolescent students in each of five (out of 19) regions in KSA, found 8,978 reported cases of child neglect as compared with a total of 511 such cases registered with the NFSR between 2010 and 2012. Another recent study found that children living in larger households (≥6 members) were 1.5 times more likely to suffer neglect than those in smaller families [14]. Other factors associated with higher levels of neglect include unemployment of the father and single/step-parent households [15][16][17][18].…”