Developing Countries and the Potential of Mandatory Reporting Laws to Identify Severe Child Abuse and Neglects

Abstract

Child abuse and neglect is widespread and often causes severe and lifelong consequences. The commonly recognised forms of child abuse—physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and exposure to domestic or family violence—are often grouped together as if they are homogenous. Yet, there are important qualitative and etiological differences between these domains of maltreatment. Sexual abuse, for example, is very different from neglect. While children often experience multiple types of abuse and neglect, it remains important to recognise this heterogeneity when considering effective and justifiable legal and policy frameworks to detect and respond to cases of maltreatment. Some legal and policy responses will likely suit one form of maltreatment better than others. This is highly relevant for developing countries, where economic, social, and cultural characteristics may be relevant considerations in the design of law and policy. This chapter will consider some of the key characteristics of different types of child abuse and neglect, and will explore the nature and justifiability of mandatory reporting laws in relation to them. Mandatory reporting laws have been created in many nations as a way of identifying cases of severe maltreatment which may otherwise remain hidden. International instruments and human rights bodies endorse the use of multiple legislative, policy and practice measures to protect children from abuse, including the use of referral or reporting processes to identify cases of abuse. With particular reference to developing countries, this chapter discusses two important questions: first, are there some forms of maltreatment more suited to this legal response than others, and why? Second, what circumstances must be created, whether in a Western nation or a developing economy, to enable this legal response to be successfully implemented?