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Child protective services during COVID-19 and doubly marginalized children: International perspectives

journal contribution
posted on 2022-06-23, 10:04 authored by Carmit Katz, Natalia Varela, Jill E. Korbin, Afnan Attarsh Najjar, Noal Cohen, Annie Bérubé, Ellen Bishop, Delphine Collin-Vezina, Alan Desmond, Barbara Fallon, Ansie Fouché, Sadiyya Haffejee, David Kaawa-Mafigiri, Ilan Katz, Genovefa Kefalidou, Katie Maguire-Jack, Nadia Massarweh, Akhtar Munir, Pablo Muñoz, Sidnei Priolo-Filho, George M. Tarabulsy, Diane Thembekile Levine, Ashwini Tiwari, Elmien Truter, Hayley Walker-Williams, Christine Wekerle

Background

Alongside deficits in children's wellbeing, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an elevated risk for child maltreatment and challenges for child protective services worldwide. Therefore, some children might be doubly marginalized, as prior inequalities become exacerbated and new risk factors arise.

Objective

To provide initial insight into international researchers' identification of children who might have been overlooked or excluded from services during the pandemic.

Participants and setting

This study was part of an international collaboration involving researchers from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Israel, South Africa, Uganda, the UK and the USA. Researchers from each country provided a written narrative in response to the three research questions in focus, which integrated the available data from their countries.

Method

Three main questions were explored: 1) Who are the children that were doubly marginalized? 2) What possible mechanisms may be at the root? and 3) In what ways were children doubly marginalized? The international scholars provided information regarding the three questions. A thematic analysis was employed using the intersectional theoretical framework to highlight the impact of children's various identities.

Results

The analysis yielded three domains: (1) five categories of doubly marginalized children at increased risk of maltreatment, (2) mechanisms of neglect consisting of unplanned, discriminatory and inadequate actions, and (3) children were doubly marginalized through exclusion in policy and practice and the challenges faced by belonging to vulnerable groups.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic can be used as a case study to illustrate the protection of children from maltreatment during worldwide crises. Findings generated the understanding that child protective systems worldwide must adhere to an intersectionality framework to protect all children and promote quality child protection services.

Funding

This study was funded in part by a research grant awarded to Carmit Katz by the Tel Aviv University Center for Combating Pandemics.

History

Citation

Child Abuse & Neglect, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105634

Author affiliation

Leicester Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Leicester/School of Media, Communications and Sociology

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Published in

Child Abuse and Neglect

Pagination

105634

Publisher

Elsevier

issn

0145-2134

eissn

1873-7757

Acceptance date

2022-04-11

Copyright date

2022

Spatial coverage

England

Language

eng

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