A study of child abuse trend in Saudi Arabia – A review update

Child abuse is a reality in all cultural, ethnic, and income groups. Our comprehensive review provides a feedback that it is still a global problem of considerable extent. Child abuse can be physical, emotional - verbal, sexual or through neglect. Keeping in mind the sensitivity of the issue an attempt was made to assess the different forms and magnitude of child abuse across the country by reviewing articles published on this topic in the past 25 years. It was found that child abuse is still an unfortunate problem in Saudi Arabia and its prevalence is a cause of concern both for the government and the healthcare agencies. Also, the incidents are reported much less than actual occurrence mostly due to either the innocence of the victim or the callousness and insensitivity of investigating agencies. The government initiated the National Family Safety Program (NFSP) in 2005 with the intention to prevent child abuse and provide preventive education to the population. Keywords: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual abuse, Saudi Arabia.