The maltreatments against children and adolescents are admitted as a crescent phenomenon in world, but its knowledge are in building process due to its complexity. This study show a revising the literature with aims know and publicise epidemiological data about the violence against children and adolescents, discuss the knowledge about magnitude of this violence, the related factors and the consequences for victims. The literature show the range and magnitude violence against children and adolescents. Furthermore, studies reinforce the importance of recognizing the nature and reality of these events to form a diagnosis that helps elaborate and accomplish specific prevention and intervention policies.
External causes; Battered child syndrome; Epidemiology; Pediatrics
