A Global Snapshot of Child Maltreatment and Child Protection
Authors: Dubowitz Howard 
Published: November 2021

There is ample evidence that child maltreatment (child abuse and neglect) is a prevalent problem, globally. Every 2 years since 1982, the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) conducts a survey to assess the state of child maltreatment and child protection internationally. This chapter is excerpted and based on World Perspectives on Child Abuse, 11th Edition.1* Those wishing to read the full report, including detailed information on individual countries, can obtain a copy from ISPCAN at www.ispcan.org.

It is naturally difficult to cover the entire world and to capture what is happening related to child maltreatment and child protection in many countries in any depth. Nevertheless, data from this survey offer a valuable snapshot of policies and practices pertaining to child maltreatment in different regions of the world and according to country income level.

With members in more than 100 countries, ISPCAN has the capacity to identify knowledgeable professionals in the field of child maltreatment. ISPCAN initiated the current survey with respondents to past surveys. In addition, potential participants thought to be familiar with child protection in their countries were sought from ISPCAN membership. ISPCAN and executive council members were also asked to reach out to their networks, particularly in countries in which a respondent had not been identified. In addition to individual connections, ISPCAN works with national organizations in several countries as well as other international organizations. They too helped identify key informants to complete the survey. Repeated efforts were made to reach respondents in as many countries as possible.

Of the 96 countries with identified respondents, 76% completed the survey. Of the 73 countries represented, 10 were from Africa, 14 from the Americas, 25 from Asia, and 23 from Europe; Oceania was represented by just Australia. Using designations of the World Bank, there was good representation of high- and middle-income countries (33 for each), but only 7 responses were from low-income countries. Caution is naturally needed when interpreting findings based on low numbers.

The editor, together with an international advisory committee, developed the survey, building on prior iterations. Participants were invited to complete the survey, administered online using SurveyMonkey. Each respondent was e-mailed a link to the survey. They were also encouraged to seek input from colleagues when necessary, to help ensure the accuracy of the information. It is inherently difficult to know the many aspects of child protection in one’s country, especially when systems are not centralized and considerable variation may exist. It was beyond the scope of this project to check the accuracy of responses. These data, therefore, may not always accurately represent the complex picture or the variations within a country.

The results of the survey help inform the status of maltreated children globally and likely system and programmatic interventions needed to ameliorate the status of children worldwide.