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Abuse suffered by children early in life can severely impair future health and psycho-emotional development. The semiology of violence against children and adolescents and its treatment are quite specific to that age class. This observation led paediatricians and forensic doctors to create the French Society of Forensic Paediatrics (Société Francaise de Pédiatrie Médico-Légale, or SFPML) to lead thinking on violence inflicted on minors, from tracking to expertise, while also offering interventions suited to their particular form of vulnerability and working on prevention. The child must be the subject of care and not reduced to an object of investigation. Forensic paediatrics promotes a practice integrated into a care pathway dynamic. The national “Health Protected” experimentation aims to improve the global health of these children and adolescents by facilitating their access to care, follow-up and co-ordination. It appears essential to adopt a range of integrated preventive and supportive measures to lessen the negative effects of the violence sustained and help such young people develop harmoniously.