Characteristics of pediatric emergency department visits for youth 10-15 years old with injuries due to interpersonal violence

Violence Against Adolescent Girls During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Quantitative Evidence From Rural and Urban Communities in Maharashtra, India

PURPOSE

While the "shadow pandemic" of violence against women during the global health crisis caused by COVID-19 is well documented, little is known about its impact on adolescent girls. This study assesses the pandemic's effect on different forms of violence against girls in Maharashtra, India.

METHODS

Adolescent girls from rural communities and urban slum pockets in Pune and Sangli, Maharashtra, were recruited between February and April 2022. Girls were eligible for participation if they were aged 13-18 years, irrespective of additional characteristics such as school attendance, caste or socioeconomic status. Quantitative data on health-related and socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, family violence, and intimate partner violence (IPV; for married/partnered girls) were collected using audio- and computer-assisted self-interview techniques. We estimated a multivariable logistic regression model to assess the pandemic's impact on violence risk.

RESULTS

Three thousand forty-nine adolescent girls were recruited into the study, 251 (8.2%) of whom had been married as children. Two thousand and three (65.7%) girls reported exposure to at least one form of family violence in the preceding year and 405 (71.7%) partnered girls reported incidents of IPV. Domestic violence risk increased significantly in households that suffered greater economic harm (odds ratio = 1.19, 95% confidence interval 1.13-1.26) and negative health consequences (odds ratio = 1.76, 95% confidence interval 1.54-2.02) from the pandemic. Similarly, greater detrimental health and economic impacts were associated with higher IPV risk.

DISCUSSION

The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially increased girls' vulnerability to violence. Preventive measures and concerted, youth-focused policy efforts to extend support services to adolescent violence survivors are urgently needed.

Emergency Department-Attended Injuries Resulting from School-Based Violence in Baltimore Adolescents, 2019-2020

BACKGROUND

Our objective is to describe violence-related injuries to early adolescents that occurred at school, resulting in emergency department (ED) evaluation.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study at an urban academic pediatric ED in Baltimore, MD, identified patients 10-15 years old who presented with an injury from intentional, interpersonal violence that occurred at school between January 2019-December 2020. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize patient and event characteristics.

RESULTS

Of 819 youth 10-15 years of age evaluated for a violence-related injury, school was the location in 115 cases (14.0%). All events occurred prior to the statewide stay at home order (March 30, 2020). School-injured youth had a mean age of 12.7 ± 1.7 years and were predominantly male (64.3%). Of the 115 cases, 75 (65.2%) involved an altercation with a peer, 26 (22.6%) involved a teacher or school staff, 6 (5.2%) involved a family member, 1 (0.9%) involved police, 6 (5.2%) involved an unknown party, and 1 (0.9%) involved an unrelated but known adult. All injured youth were discharged from the ED.

CONCLUSIONS

School-based violence is a well-recognized cause of traumatic injuries to adolescents and may involve peers, teachers, or school staff.

Violence against children: multifaceted approaches to a complex problem

In this issue of the Journal, we highlight the problem of violence against children globally. We conceptualized this process and the thematic focus and widely disseminated an invitation to submit manuscripts. Each of us took the lead editorial role in a group of manuscripts submitted for this issue. Dr. Viswanathan led the review process for manuscripts submitted by Moe et. al, Seff et. al., Couture et. al, Osborne et. al, Khan et. al., and Friedman et. al. Dr Villaveces led the reviews of Pendharkar et. al, Tang et. al, Ryan et. al, Bravo Sanzana et. al, Flynn O’Brien et. al., Silverman et. al., and Taliep et.al. We hope that readers will see the complexities related to violence against children and get a better sense of the global implications of this problem.