The issue of maltreatment of children and adolescents constitutes a serious public health
problem, since it can produce morbidity and / or mortality, but trouble for your
development throughout the life cycle. In this sense health professionals have an important
role in identification, reporting and handling of cases. This study aimed to investigate the
knowledge of health professionals about maltreatment of children and adolescents, their
attitudes and difficulties for the management of this phenomenon and to analyze the profile
of notifications of violence carried out in the city of Belém-PA to propose possibilities
performance. The study was developed from two axes: secondary data collected in
Notification of diseases Notification System (SINAN-Net), the city of Belém-PA, in the
2009-2013 period, and primary data from the application two structured questionnaires in
174 health professionals from primary care of an administrative district of the same
township. Data were analyzed from BioEstat 5.3. program. We identified 6,381 cases of
violence against children reported in the period. The most prevalent type of violence was
sexual, associated with physical and / or psychological violence, with an annual average of
89.55% for girls, with higher prevalence in the age group 11-14 years (39.97%). For boys
sexual violence was also the most prevalent type (74.48%), followed by physical violence,
but more often in the age group 6-10 years (42.46%). The violence was mainly practiced
by individuals identified as friends or acquaintances, followed by stepfather. The study,
conducted with health professionals, showed that about 30% reported never having seen a
child or teenager and victim of some type of violence in their routine work, especially for
community health agents. Negligence was perceived by 60.74% of the professionals, but
only 19.05% of those reported have it notified. Moreover, sexual abuse was less above
(24.14%), but exhibited higher reporting rate (50.0%). Physical violence was reported by
only 39.47% of the professionals identified and psychological violence, by 34.88%.
Among the top-level technicians 50.0% said they did not know the notification form and
86.11% never used. In addition, 25.82% reported having experienced some form of
violence in childhood and / or adolescence. The data demonstrate the urgency of public
policies aimed at families and the community to the cycles of violence against children and
adolescents are stopped and other community living opportunities can be encouraged.
Allied to this, a permanent education policy geared to health professionals is essential, so
that the regulations can be effected in the daily practice of these professionals, ensuring
full protection to children and adolescents from intra and inter-sectoral actions.
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