Physical Abuse

Signs, symptoms and effects

Find out more about the signs, symptoms and effects of physical abuse:

Spotting the signs

What is physical abuse?

A form of abuse which may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.

Safeguarding Black African Children from physical abuse

Learning from assessing physical harm in Black African families (PDF, 1.1MB) which contains tips for developing culturally competent (consciousness) in social work practice.