From brain drain to brain circulation: evidence from women scientists in OWSD Honduras National Chapter.

Child abuse is among the most consequential yet least visible threats to child well-being, because its recognition is shaped not only by the occurrence of harm itself, but also by whether families, communities, and institutions define that harm as unacceptable and actionable. The World Health Organization defines child maltreatment as physical and emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, negligent treatment, and exploitation occurring in a relationship of responsibility, trust, or power, and emphasizes that its effects extend across the life course through injury, mental ill-health, impaired development, educational disadvantage, and wider social and economic costs (). In this sense, child abuse is not merely a private family matter or a clinical problem; it is a public health, human rights, and governance issue whose persistence is closely tied to the capacity of societies to recognize abuse early and respond to it effectively through coordinated child protection systems (, ). Recognition of abuse is deeply embedded in social norms. Practices that are framed within one community as discipline, family authority, or moral correction may be experienced by children as violence, humiliation, or coercion. Recent evidence shows that corporal punishment and other harmful disciplinary practices are often sustained by normative beliefs about obedience, parental entitlement, and the legitimacy of force in childrearing (). At the same time, disclosure and reporting are socially patterned processes rather than simple individual choices. A recent systematic review of child sexual abuse disclosure found that disclosure is facilitated by supportive non-offending caregivers and inhibited by stigma, fear, relational dependency, and broader socio-cultural constraints (). Similarly, a systematic review of reporting barriers among child-care professionals showed that uncertainty, fear of consequences, inadequate training, and low confidence in reporting pathways continue to impede formal reporting (). Public knowledge also matters: higher levels of knowledge about child sexual abuse are associated with stronger support for preventive and policy responses, suggesting that awareness is not merely descriptive, but politically and institutionally consequential (). These dynamics place formal institutions at the center of child protection. Formal institutions include the legal, social welfare, health, and related administrative systems responsible for prevention, identification, reporting, referral, investigation, and protection. UNICEF’s child protection systems strengthening framework argues that effective child protection depends not only on legislation, but also on integrated services, trained personnel, intersectoral coordination, referral mechanisms, accountability structures, and community engagement (). Just as importantly, institutional legitimacy matters. Comparative evidence indicates that public trust in child protection systems varies across jurisdictions and is shaped by institutional context, while trust itself is crucial for community cooperation and willingness to bring concerns to formal attention (). Where institutions are perceived as inaccessible, ineffective, punitive, or socially distant, abuse may remain hidden even when communities are aware that harm has occurred (, ).