Children on the brink: Risks for child protection, sexual abuse, and related mental health problems in the COVID-19 pandemic

In developing contexts such as India, children in adversity form a high-risk group, one that cannot be subsumed under the general category of children, who are generally considered as a vulnerable group in disaster and crisis situations. Child mental health issues in contexts of protection risks and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Indian journal of psychiatry Vol. 62; no. 9; pp. 404 - 413
Main Authors:	Ramaswamy, Sheila, Seshadri, Shekhar
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Mysore Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd 01-09-2020 Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd Wolters Kluwer - Medknow
Subjects:	Child & adolescent mental health Child abuse & neglect Childhood mental disorders Children Children & youth Coronaviruses COVID-19 Epidemics Health aspects India Mental disorders Mental health Pandemics Psychological aspects Review Risk groups Sex crimes Sexual abuse Sexuality Social networks India COVID-19 Child protection economic crises mental health sexual abuse children at risk
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Summary:	In developing contexts such as India, children in adversity form a high-risk group, one that cannot be subsumed under the general category of children, who are generally considered as a vulnerable group in disaster and crisis situations. Child mental health issues in contexts of protection risks and childhood adversity tend to be over-looked in such crises. This article focuses on examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic consequences on children in adversity, describing the increased child protection and psychosocial risks they are placed at, during and in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis and its lockdown situation. It specifically links the lockdown and the ensuing economic issues to sexuality and abuse-related risks, as occur in contexts of child labour, child sex work and trafficking, child marriage and child sexual abuse, and that result in immediate and long-term mental health problems in children. It proposes a disaster risk reduction lens to offer recommendations to address the emerging child protection, psychosocial and mental health concerns.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Review-1
ISSN:	0019-5545 1998-3794
DOI:	10.4103/psychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_1032_20