Ethnically distinct populations and coping with violence against children in the COVID-19 pandemic

Poblaciones étnicamente diversas y la lucha contra la violencia infantil en la pandemia de COVID-19

ABSTRACT

Objective:

To identify policies and programs adopted by a Brazilian municipality to address violence against children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method:

A qualitative documentary study. The study setting was the municipality of Ananindeua, Pará, Brazil. Data was collected from official websites between November 2021 and February 2022. Thematic content analysis was used with the support of webQDA software.

Results:

Three empirical categories emerged: a) Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on violence against children; b) Action strategies for tackling violence against children in the COVID-19 pandemic; c) Evaluation indicators and targets for action strategies for tackling violence against children.

Final considerations:

The documents revealed few direct mentions of children, especially traditional populations; they presented superficial and ineffective evaluations of the policies and programs adopted, using exclusively quantitative indicators.

Descriptors:
Child Abuse; Public Policy; Ethnicity; COVID-19; Program Evaluation