Reporting child abuse in Belgium

Abstract

Belgian society has become increasingly aware of  the problem of abuse and neglect of children. Recent changes to both Belgian Penal Law and the Code of Medicine now allows dentists to report suspected cases of abuse to provincial trust centres or official authorities, bypassing issues of professional confidentiality. Data on different kinds of child abuse and neglect are presented for the Dutch and Frenchspeaking parts of Belgium for 2001-2002. An increase in notified cases for both regions is noted, along with apparent differences in the type of abuse reported.