Abstract
Background: It is likely that the circumstances during the COVID-19-lockdown in Belgium increased the incidence and prevalence of child abuse and neglect (CAN) due to exacerbated risk factors and new COVID-19-related stressors. However, traditional reporters had less contact with children which could lead to undetected cases of CAN. Objective: Gain insight into the number and profile of CAN reports filed to the Brussels Confidential Center of Child Abuse and Neglect (CCCAN) during the COVID-19-lockdown. Participants and setting: A dataset comprising 536 CAN reports from periods before (N = 442) and during the lockdown (N = 94). Methods: Characteristics about the report, reporter, victim and his/her family, perpetrator(s) and the trajectory with the CCCAN were registered. The number and characteristics of reports during the lockdown were compared to those of reports before the lockdown. Results: The number of advisory questions (p =.506, d =.377) and allegations (p =.095, d = 1.206) remained unchanged. During the lockdown, the risk assessment of advisory questions was higher (p =.011, d =.280), they evolved more into social exigency investigations (p <.001, φ =.246) and were referred more often to judicial authorities (p =.010, φ =.163). Allegations were filed more often by the helpline, police and judicial authorities (p <.001, φ =.590) during the lockdown and involved more Dutch-speaking (p =.016, φ =.166) victims. Conclusions: The number of CAN reports remained the same during the lockdown but their profile changed.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 105903 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-24 |
Number of pages | 24 |
Journal | Child Abuse & Neglect |
Volume | 134 |
Early online date | 22 Sep 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was partly funded by the Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie (VGC).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
Copyright:
Copyright 2022 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.