Circumstances and Consequences of Violence-Related Injuries Presenting at Hospital. A Study at the Pediatric Emergency and Forensic Medicine Units of Maputo Central Hospital, Mozambique

Sérgio Keita Nhassengo, Stela Ocuane Matsinhe, Eunice Jethá and Lucie Laflamme
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Sérgio Keita Nhassengo: Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Stela Ocuane Matsinhe: Faculty of Medicine, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo 257, Mozambique
Eunice Jethá: Faculty of Medicine, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo 257, Mozambique
Lucie Laflamme: Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 22, 1-12

Abstract: Rates of violence against children are high in Sub-Saharan Africa and information is scarce on the resulting injuries. This study investigates sex-related differences in the circumstances and consequences of sexual and physical violence in the Mozambican context. Hospital records from 2019 at the pediatric emergency and forensic medicine units of Maputo Central Hospital were scrutinized using a standardized form. Of the 321 cases identified, 60% resulted from sexual violence. Girls represented 86.4% of the victims of sexual violence and boys, 66.1% of those from physical violence. Being injured in a familiar environment and by a parent, a relative, or someone known was strikingly common. The injury pattern varied by form of violence and sex of the child. About half of the injuries sustained by physical violence were minor/superficial. Severe injuries requiring hospitalization (33% in total) and some specialized care (27% in total) were mainly sustained by girl victims of sexual violence. While circumstances and consequences of violence-related injuries have several similarities, being severely injured is more typical of girl victims of sexual violence. Besides medical care, hospital services in Mozambique must be prepared to offer pediatric victims of violence the necessary social care.

Keywords: child abuse and neglect; violence-related injury; sexual violence; physical violence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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