The description "child abuse" refers to the violence, mistreatment or disregard that a child or pre-adult may experience while in the care of someone they either trust or depend on, such as a parent, sibling, other relative, or guardian. Abuse may take place anywhere and may occur, for example, within the child's home or of someone known to the child. There are many different forms of abuse, such as:physical abuse, sexual abuse and exploitation, neglect, and emotional abuse.

It has been difficult to acquire a complete picture of child abuse in Canada because it often remains hidden. Most provincial and territorial child welfare laws require those (including professionals and members of the public) who suspect that a child is being downtrodden to make a report to the appropriate child welfare authority. Many cases of child abuse remain hidden, either because a child does not, or cannot, tell anyone what has happened to them, or because no one reports the abuse to the authorities.

There is no definitive cause of child abuse, and any child regardless of age, gender, cultural identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental abilities or personality may be vulnerable to being abused. Child abuse is a composite problem and there are many different contributing factors. Many experts believe that child abuse is linked to inequalities among people in our society and the power of difference between adults and children. A child is usually in a position of confidence on his or her abuser, and has very little or no power compared to the abuser.