Child abuse can include physical, emotional, or sexual harm against a child. It can be a single incident or multiple incidents, and may be intentional or unintentional. Common forms of child abuse include emotional, physical, sexual abuse and neglect. Child abuse often results in emotional harm and can negatively impact a child's development, learning, emotions, behavior, and social interactions as well as family relationships and the community.

1. Module 4:
Defining
Child Abuse

2. Child abuse includes behaviour that results in physical,
emotional and sexual harm to a child or young person
• Can be a single incident or a number of incidents
• May be intentional or unintentional
• Can result from a combination of factors that have placed the
child at risk of harm
• Occurs across all socio-economic groups
• Is most often perpetrated by someone known by the child.

3. Emotional
Physical
Sexual Neglect
Forms of Child Abuse

4. • A child seeing or hearing domestic and family violence
(DVF) is a form of child abuse.
• It can have a significant emotional and psychological
impact on the child.
• There's a risk of the child being physically harmed,
whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Emotional

5. Neglect
Neglect occurs when a child's basic necessities of life
are not being met and their health and development
are affected.

6. Physical Abuse
Physical abuse occurs when abuse leads to non-
accidental physical injury or harm

7. Emotional Abuse
Emotional Abuse occurs when a child is repeatedly
made to feel worthless, unloved, alone or scared.

8. Sexual Abuse
Sexual Abuse/exploitation occurs when someone
involves, forces, pressures or coerces a child in any
kind of sexual activity.

9. Relationships between types of child abuse
and emotional harm
• Abuse rarely happens as a single type of abuse
• All forms of abuse have a degree of emotional harm
• Can result from a combination of factors that have
placed the child at risk of harm
• The extent of harm will vary for every child.

10. Effects of Abuse
• Not only does abuse significantly impact on the child, it
also impacts on the family and the child's wider
community eg. workplace, school, sports, parish and
social groups.
Child
• development
• learning
• emotions
• behaviour
• social interactions
Family
• home life
• parental health
• emotions
• behaviours
• relationships
Community
• school/classroom
• peers
• community
• neighbours
• workplace