Notifications of physical, sexual and emotional violence and neglect against children in Brazil, 2011-2019: an ecological time-series study.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the temporal trend of notifications of physical, sexual and emotional violence and neglect against children in Brazil between 2011 and 2019.

METHODS

This was an ecological time-series study based on notifications of violence against children aged 0-9 years held on the Brazilian Notifiable Health Conditions Information System. Age-adjusted notification rates were calculated for Brazil as a whole, by national macro-region and by sex. Trends were assessed using Joinpoint Regression.

RESULTS

We analyzed 88,820 notifications of physical violence, 87,141 notifications of sexual violence, 52,359 notifications of emotional violence and 166,664 notifications of neglect. A rising trend was identified for notifications of physical, sexual and emotional violence and neglect for Brazil as a whole and for both sexes. Neglect accounted for the highest rate (95.24 notifications per 100,000 children in 2019). The Northeast and Southeast macro-regions had rising trends for all forms of violence.

CONCLUSION

Notifications of physical, sexual and emotional violence and neglect showed rising trends in Brazil in the period studied.

IMPLICATIONS FOR SERVICES

Increasing trends in notifications of violence against children highlight the continued need for capacity building in health services, crucial for early detection, effective prevention and coordinated intervention, taking regional variations into account.

PERSPECTIVES

Notification of violence against children by health services requires greater commitment by health workers. Future studies could combine multiple national databases and surveys to increase the accuracy of rates and trends.