What are the short, medium and long term consequences of children subjected to abuse?

Watch: Professor Hayley Walker-Williams answers this question based on research and her clinical experience.

Abuse negatively impacts the child's normal development trajectory in childhood which means the effects have dire consequences for them as well functioning adults. Research shows that 1 in 4 children have experienced some form of child abuse before the age of 17 years.

If you think of these consequences in the short and long term, they affect the child's development now, as well as their recipricol interactions with others. So the impact is not just on them, it's also on the family, the school system, the community and the impact extends even as far as being devastating for society as a whole, because of the cost of taking care of these victims as well as them not contributing to a productive society.

A good way of thinking of consequences is to think of 'A, B, C's'. Watch the video to find out why.