PHYSICAL ABUSE OF STREET AND SLUM
CHILDREN OF KOLKATA METROPOLITAN CITY, INDIA
Banerjee
Swadwesh Ranjan
Islamia
Hospital, Kolkata, India
Objective: The study was conducted to explore
the incidence of physical abuse in slum and street children.
Methods: Seven hundred and fifty one
children in the age group 4-15 years were covered in the street and slum
area of Kolkata to investigate the nature and types of physical abuse and
its associated factors. Out of those 751 children of the study area at
least 60% of them belonged to street and pavement dwellers and rest lived
in slum areas. The children
belong to
190
families, 32% of them had more than 4 children per family. About 65% of the
children were employed at least eight hours per day (full time) in various
unorganized and small scale sectors of economy in and around the study
area.
Results: A physical examination and
consequent detailed survey of their family members had revealed physical
abuse among 202 (27%) children. They showed different types of injury in
various parts of their body. The types of injuries or inflections
identified were lacerated injury (17%), bruises and ecchymosis (16%),
hematoma (16%), burns (10%), internal injuries (2%) and fractures (5%).
Conclusion: Apart from the physical injuries,
psychological impact of physical abuse is also a very important dimension
and sometimes it can severely impede the psychological development of the
growing children, which might manifest at a later stage. A possible follow
up of these studies be continued on a wider canvas.