One of the gifts of the strange circumstances of 2020 has been an increased awareness of just how much we are a global society. Whether it is the COVID‐19 pandemic, the increasing impacts of the climate crisis, or the realities of racial inequalities and prejudices in our society and culture, we recognise that we are all affected. There must be few, if any, countries where the impact of coronavirus has not been felt – impacting on people's lives and livelihoods. And yet, while it is clear that all are potentially vulnerable, there are huge inequalities in the extent to which individuals are affected. It is also clear that both cultural and political factors have influenced how different countries have responded to the pandemic, and consequently have affected both morbidity and mortality rates between countries.

As with the COVID‐19 pandemic, child maltreatment is an issue which affects every country and society in our world. And – as with infectious diseases – while all are potentially vulnerable, there are inequalities within our societies, and both cultural and political factors influence the way in which we respond and the extent to which children are harmed or protected from harm.

In this global‐themed issue of Child Abuse Review, we explore child maltreatment across six low‐ and middle‐income countries, addressing different aspects of abuse and violence against children, the societal and cultural factors influencing it, and how different areas are working to recognise and respond to – and ultimately to prevent – such harm.

2020年这种奇怪情况的礼物之一是，人们对我们是全球社会的多少有了更高的认识。无论是COVID-19大流行，气候危机的日益严重的影响，还是我们社会和文化中种族不平等和偏见的现实，我们都认识到我们都受到了影响。几乎没有（如果有的话）没有感觉到冠状病毒影响的国家，这会影响人们的生活和生计。然而，尽管很明显所有人都容易受到伤害，但个人受到影响的程度仍然存在巨大的不平等。同样清楚的是，文化和政治因素都影响了不同国家对这一流行病的反应方式，因此影响了国家之间的发病率和死亡率。

与COVID-19大流行一样，虐待儿童也是一个影响世界上每个国家和社会的问题。并且-与传染病一样-尽管所有人都可能处于脆弱状态，但我们社会中存在不平等现象，文化和政治因素都影响着我们的应对方式以及儿童受到伤害或受到保护的程度。

在本期全球主题的《虐待儿童评论》中，我们探讨了六个中低收入国家的虐待儿童问题，探讨了虐待和暴力侵害儿童的不同方面，影响虐待儿童的社会和文化因素，以及不同领域如何开展工作。认识到并应对并最终防止这种伤害。