The child’s body as a receptacle of physical violence: analysis of epidemiological data from VIVA/SINAN

Abstract

The high incidence of physical violence against children and adolescents in Brazil points to the urgent need to develop public policies to address and  prevent the problem. The present study is  characterized as a descriptive epidemiological study  of time-series, based on secondary data obtained  from the Notifiable Diseases Information System  (SINAN-NET, in Portuguese) and TABWIN system. The  highest rate of domestic physical violence refers to  girls aged 10 to 14 years (248 per 100 thousand  inhabitants). In relation to male children and  adolescents, the age group with the highest rate of  physical violence is from 0 to 4 years (232 per 100  thousand inhabitants). The indigenous population has the highest rates of violence in all regions. Father and  mother are the most frequent aggressors (41.13% and  39.84%, respectively). The present study  identified that boys are more susceptible to physical  domestic violence in childhood and girls in  adolescence. The age group that is most affected by  physical domestic violence is 0 to 4 years old. The  races that are most affected by violence are  indigenous and brown. Most of the times, violence  happened at home.