International Journal of Medical Toxicology and Forensic Medicine. 2017;7(2):105-16. Child Abuse and Neglect: A Survey on Primary School Teachers of Kanpur City Ramesh G 1* , Kumar A 1 , Raj A 1 , Gupta B 1 , Katiyar A 1 , Nagarajappa R 2 1 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Rama Dental College Hospital and Research Centre, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India 2 Department of Public Health Dentistry, Institute of Dental Sciences, Bhuvaneshwar, Orissa, India A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article Type: Original Article Article History: Received: 28 June 2016 Revised: 12 Oct 2016 Accepted: 30 Nov 2016 Keywords: Forensic science Child abuse Awareness Questionnaire Neglect Background: A major public concern in today’s world is child abuse and neglect (CAN). Teachers are in unique position to detect possible cases due to their daily contact with children. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among 220 primary school teachers in 19 randomly selected schools of Kanpur city, Uttar Pradesh, India. A structured close ended questionnaire prepared in two languages (English and National language Hindi) comprising of 19 questions was used. Results: CAN was either never or rarely noticed among 47.3%. The criteria of recognizing the CAN was known by 57% and 90% felt comfortable considering an expert opinion in their schools and so can report confidently. Training to identify CAN was provided by school administration (36.4%) and was done on monthly basis (34.5%). Conclusion: Findings highlight the need for enhancing teacher’s education in CAN, as by reporting suspected CAN, teachers can make an important contribution to the early detection and prevention of child abuse. Copyright©2017 Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Department. All rights reserved. Implication for health policy/practice/research/medical education: Child Abuse and Neglect  Please cite this paper as: Ramesh G, Kumar A, Raj A, Gupta B, Katiyar A, Nagarajappa R. Child Abuse and Neglect: A Survey on Primary School Teachers of Kanpur City. International Journal of Medical Toxicology and Forensic Medicine. 2017;7(2):105-16. 1. Introduction: * Child abuse and neglect (CAN) is now recognized as a significant health and social problem (1, 2), with worldwide annual deaths from homicide estimated at 57,000 in children<15 years (1). Child abuse has many forms: physical, emotional, sexual, neglect, Corresponding author: Ramesh G, MD, Professor and Head of Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Rama Dental College Hospital and Research Centre, Kanpur -208024, Uttar Pradesh, India. E-mail: amug3r@yahoo.co.in and exploitation. Any of these, that are potentially or actually harmful to a child's health, survival, dignity and development are abuse (3). International data are not available for non-fatal CAN, but rates are believed to be considerably higher, since deaths are the tiny, tragic tip of a very large iceberg of abuse (2). The serious short- and long-term consequences for victims of CAN have been well documented (4-7). A well established empirical evidence shows a ‘graded’ relationship between the number of unfavorable childhood maltreatment exposures and the occurrence of depression, poor academic performance and even suicidal ideation among youth (8, 9). More