Physical abuse

What exactly is physical abuse?

Government statutory guidance called Working Together 2018 (see page 106, Appendix A) says physical abuse may involve:

• Hitting
• Shaking
• Throwing
• Poisoning
• Burning or scalding
• Drowning
• Suffocating or
• Otherwise causing physical harm to a child.

Is anything else classed as physical abuse?

Yes. There are two other forms of physical abuse:

• Doing something on purpose to cause a child to become ill is a form of physical abuse. This is called induced illness
• An adult fabricating the symptoms of an illness is a form of physical abuse. This is where an adult pretends a child is having symptoms of illness when they are not. This is called fabricated illness.

What is a non-accidental injury?

If medical staff think a child may have been physically harmed and on purpose, they may describe this as a possible non-accidental injury. Families might hear this described as NAI for short. Where this type of injury is suspected, children’s services will be informed.

The police will also be informed. This is because if the injury is not accidental, a crime may have been committed. A full investigation into how injury was caused will take place.

Where there is concern child has suffered a NAI, it is highly likely care proceedings will be begin.