Physical Abuse
Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or caregiver fabricates or induces illness in a child whom they are looking after.
For the signs and symptoms of physical abuse, visit the NSPCC website.
NSPCC Core Information - Website and Leaflets
The NSPCC have a free resource for professionals working with children and young people. The NSPCC working in collaboration with the Cochrane Institute of Primary Care and Public Health (situated in the School of Medicine at Cardiff University) have undertaken a series of systematic literature reviews on a serious of topics such as physical abuse and neglect. These reviews bring together the best evidence available on a given topic, providing an evidence base for professional decision making.
The findings from these reviews have been concisely summarised in a series of leaflets. These leaflets provide key information for professionals to help inform their assessments and decision making. Currently information is available on the following topics, please see links below:
- Fractures in children
- Bruises on children
- Head and spinal injuries in children
- Thermal injuries on children
The leaflets are available bilingually and free of charge from the NPSCC.
‘Shaking Your Baby’
The Safeguarding Children Service Public Health Wales, supported by Children in Wales, launched a public health campaign to prevent Non Accidental Head Injury in infants at an all Wales Conference held on 30 September 2013. The key messages of the campaign are being disseminated using the following four minute video which highlights the challenges of coping with a crying infant and clearly stating that it is harmful to shake a baby.
The film gives helpful guidance for parents and carers to assist them to develop strategies to deal with stressful times which are common to all parents. The video originates from work undertaken over the last ten years by an Australian multi-disciplinary project team from The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales.
View the shaken baby video here.