CHILD ABUSE

Child abuse

Children are the gift from God to every parent dreaming of having a child. They have the right to be loved and treated well. But there are those who are suffering from abuse in the extreme sense of the world. It is also difficult to imagine that any person would purposely cause harm on any child.

Child abuse is one of the major problem faced by many children around the world and it takes the attention of all the nations. Children can be abused by different people like strangeness, members of their family, teachers and other children at school or in the community. 

Regardless who are the abusers, causes and effects are all same like any other abuse. Child abuse is categorised into four types:

1. Physical abuse

2. Psychological abuse

3. Sexual abuse

4. Neglect

 

Causes of child abuse 

 There are several causes of child abuse. First cause is poverty. It happens when the family doesn’t have the resources to provide the need of their family members specially children like food, education…etc. In some poor countries number of families tend to sell their children to rich people and some make them to work in very young age or they just leave them in front of orphaned doors because they are unable to meet their needs and this is considered as abuse for them.

 Family problems are the second cause of child abuse. It can be due to divorce so the child will be separated from the family and because of that a lot of problems raised such as both parents asking for their right to take the child. Some of the parents are young and they don’t know how to deal with difficulties that they face when taken care of a child.

 The third cause of abuse results because the abusers are taken substances which make them unaware of themselves. Substance abuse is become one of the main reasons for the increase number of child abuse around the world. Throughout different studies it was clear that parents with history of substance abuse, most commonly like alcohol and drugs were more likely to abuse their children. This substance can leads to developing abnormal behaviours by abuser either they are from family or strangers. 

Forms of child abuse 

Child abuse can take different forms physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. 

• Physical abuse includes scalding, beating or severe physical punishment and is easier to identify the danger of physical abuse.

• Sexual abuse includes sexual assault and exposure to indecent acts. Sexual abusers steal childhood from a child.

• Emotional abuse includes verbal abuse and unfair criticism, terrorizing acts and lack of nurturance or emotional support.

• Child neglect can take on a number of different forms. For instance a child’s nutritional needs can be ignored, resulting in a deficient diet and in turn ‘failure to thrive’. This   may result because parents have lack of knowledge regarding a healthy diet or from poverty. It happens when a child is not provided with shelter and clothing. It can also come in the form of inadequate medical care, lack of proper supervision and lack of educational opportunities.

A UNICEF report on child well-being stated that United States and the United kingdom ranked lowest with respect to the well-being of children. Child abuse and child neglect are far common in single parent families than in families where both parents are present. 

In India one problem still faced by many young women is marriage in small age. Due to extreme poverty, many girls are considered as a financial burden to their families and are in turn forced to marry in exchange of money.

In conclusion, it is clear that child abuse is a global problem. So it is important or must be aware of the signs which may leads to abuse and detect it. These characteristic can appear in:

• Families who are isolated and not involve with the community.

• Parents who are having history of abused as children.

• Families who are facing money problems most of the time.

• Parents who are very inflexible in disciplining their child.

• Parents who show too much or too little concern for their child.

• Parents who feel they have a difficult child.

• Parents who are under a lot of stress.

Around the world there are many agencies with different program trying their best to stop the child abuse. This can be done by adapting several plans for example:

 Parents listening to their children and talk to them. 

 Educating new parents on the parenting skills since children need to know that they are special, loved and capable of following their dreams.

 Stopping child abuse when you see it.

 Educating the parents about the signs of abuse so it will be easy to detect it.

 Teaching the child the difference between acceptable and unacceptable touching and to trust their instincts about people.

Children are an important element in any communication. They desire a maximum love and care should be given to them without any restrictions. They deserves a healthy and safe childhood. We all want to protect them and guide them in the right direction.