What is
child abuse? Child abuse occurs when parents, caregivers, older children or strangers abuse their power and authority in their treatment or management of a child. It includes the denial of a child’s rights to love, affection, understanding, nutrition, medical and health care, clothing, security, dignity and an education.
Child abuse is any act that endangers a child’s physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual health and development. The term child abuse therefore implies an abuse of power by an older person who is the child’s caregiver and a consequent loss of trust suffered by the child towards such an older person. The child abuser comes from all walks of life, and the profile of a child abuser cuts across all cultural, economical and racial boundaries.
Child abusers are individuals who frequently suffer from low self-esteem, a diminished sense of self worth and have unrealistic expectations of what life has to offer to them. They are notoriously manipulative and some may even be aggressive. Children are at risk because they are only safe if the adults around them keep them safe and they are often unable to access protection without the help of adults.
When they are abused by adults who are supposed to care for them they are confused and do not know who to turn to. One of the main reasons why children are innocently drawn into abusive situations is because they have inadequate information. We often teach our children to obey adults in their immediate environment without letting them know there are times when they should challenge adult authority and that that the people they know and trust could be potential abusers.
Because it is not possible to be with your child all the time to protect them from abuse, it is the parent’s responsibility to talk to the child about abuse and importantly what it entails. Simply telling our children not to talk to strangers is not going to protect them from danger they may face from known and trusted adults.
It is estimated that thousands of children are abused each year all over the world. There are also an equal number of children who die of abuse. Children who do survive are left emotionally scarred for life. The emotional problems of children as a result of abuse can be treated but they have to be identified early. Often the severe emotional damage suffered by abused children does not appear until later in life, sometimes only when they become parents themselves and subsequently abusers themselves.
Remember, children are as strong as the support they are able to access through parents and school teachers where they are taught the values of discipline and self-discipline. It is therefore necessary to deal with the child before he or she becomes an abuser in turn as a history of emotional and physical abuse is the key factor in forming a criminal personality.
Therefore, the motto should be that prevention is better than cure. In conclusion, child abuse is here and now with us. It could happen to anyone at any given time. But, the good news is that this anti-social behaviour but also criminal acts can be rooted out!
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