FROM TEARS TO TRIUMPH DISCUSSING LEGAL DEFINITION OF CHILD ABUSE AND THE HISTORY

https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Child+Abuse

Child abuse is defined as an act, or gailur to act on the part of a parent or caretaker that results in the death, serious physical or emotional harm. Sexual Abuse, or exploitation of a child, or which places the child at imminent risk of serious harm. Child-abuse laws raise difficult legal and political issues, pitting the right of children to be free from harm, on the one hand, against the right of families to privacy and the rights of parents to raise and discipline their children without government interference, on the other.

The mistreatment of children at the hands of parents or caretakers has a long history. For centuries, this behavior was shielded by a system of laws that gave children few, if any, rights. Under English Common Law, children were treated as property owned by their parents. Parents, particularly fathers,  Parents, particularly fathers, had great latitude over the treatment and discipline of children. This outlook was carried to the American colonies and incorporated into early laws in the United States.