Identification of children exposed to physical violence based on systematic forensic examination and data collection: A sub-project under “The best start for everyone” project

Introduction: Since 2020, children have systematically been offered a forensic examination following a video interrogation by the Copenhagen Police in cases of suspected inflicted violence. The forensic examination includes an external examination of the body, and a health and well-being screening. The intervention project is now being expanded with the participation of several Children’s Centers and police districts as well as a control group.
Objective: To develop a regression model, based on an injury characteristic, a well-being index, age, and sex, and assess its ability to identify children who have been exposed to physical violence.
Material and method: We include children forensically examined in designated Children’s Centers and a control group of children recruited via advertising and without suspicion of abuse. Both groups of children undergo a standardized forensic examination. “True” abuse cases are defined as cases with a confession, witnessed assault and/or a guilty verdict, or two forensic pathologists' independent assessments of inflicted violence based on the injury characteristic. Depending on the statistical power, the model will take socio-economic factors into account.
Currently, we have conducted over 400 examinations in the Children’s Center for the Capital Region, Copenhagen, and approximately 120 examinations in the control group – and the inclusion is still ongoing.
Perspective: The model can be used as a support tool, ensuring standardized, objective, and reproducible forensic assessments of whether a child has been exposed to physical violence. National implementation of the model could ensure a continuous and systematic data collection; thus, the model may continuously be optimized and serve as a gold standard.