Child abuse: A review of the history and protection policies

Abstract

The study presents a literature research of violence against children, intended to better understand this phenomenon and present the results to the public knowledge; the same objectives were pursued with the policies developed to deal with the violence against children, at the same time discussing the importance of the prevention and the interventions of the health professionals. The literature research was conducted on the data banks MEDLINE, LILACS and SciELO, selecting the studies with the keywords: Violence, Aggression, Child Abuse, Shaken Child Syndrome, and Pediatrics; the search was not restricted to the Spanish, English and French languages. The literature showed the importance of preventive measures and the need to discuss and reflect, among different sectors, in order to obtain policies and strategies leading to prevention, diagnostics and therapeutics. It was demonstrated the relevance of including these aspects in the training of the health professionals, which will allow them to contribute to diagnosis, treatment and prevention of child abuse, breaking the chains of predetermined fate and destiny.