Child Abuse

Child Abuse: Any physical, sexual, emotional and/or other maltreatment or exploitation of a child. For legal purposes, the term "abuse" is specifically defined in both Federal and State legislation. The Federal CAPTA legislation provides a foundation for States by identifying a minimum set of acts or behaviors that characterize maltreatment of a child. This legislation also defines what acts will be considered to constitute physical or sexual abuse of a child.

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The definition of this term has been taken from the "Adoption Glossary," which contains definitions of a wide variety of words that relate to adoption and infertility. The entire Adoption Glossary is located at http://glossary.adoption.com.

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