Violence against children: aspects apprehended via the elementary school teachers discourse and the coordination with the healthcare sector

Abstract

Violence against children follows human development. It affects the quality of life given the physical, psychological and moral lesions it inflicts. Although there is an increasing awareness of the all different forms violence against children takes and of the actions performed by the Health and Education Sectors to detect it, it is still a phenomenon largely invisible. In this context this study aims to understand and analyze the teachers' conceptions and actions when faced with violence against children in an Elementary School in the city of Palmeiras do Sul, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It is an exploratory descriptive research with a quality approach. The study worked with 11 teachers as subjects. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and was analyzed according to a thematic method. Perception of violence against children is a result of various factors. It is usually recognized by means of the inflicted physical injury and that sometimes hampers the process of recognizing other forms of violence and reinforces its tolerability. This kind of cruelty is generated by elements such as omission and the notion that violence against children belongs to the family realm and that it is the school's responsibility to denounce it. It has also been noticed that the professionals in Education do not recognize the Health Sector as part of the children's protection network. Such processes hinder the problem's detection and delay addressing it. In this sense, the creation of an information and protection network and the development of intersectoral actions involving the Healthcare and Education Sectors are basic strategies for facing the problem.