ABSTRACT
Legal arrangements concerning child abuse divide into two main groups: penal laws, which aim to prosecute and punish offenders, and welfare laws, which aim to ensure the necessary legal options for intervening within the family and caring for the children. Until 1989, the Penal Code included hardly any explicit references to child abuse within the family. The only offences in the criminal code explicitly dealing with child abuse within the family were those related to the neglect of minors, and an offence severely punishing a father having sexual intercourse with his minor daughter. Most welfare laws, enabling intervention within the family to protect children at risk, were passed back in the 1960s. The main law on this count is the Youth Law, dating from 1960. Changes in legislation and public policy regarding children have been linked to the name and the story of a particular child in several countries.
