Child abuse is a generic term describing the physical or mental mistreatment of anyone under the age of 16.
This abuse takes a variety of forms, from serious sexual and physical assaults to mental and psychological ill-treatment.
Child abuse can be conducted by both commission, such as with sexual assault, or by omission, as in the case of neglect or abandonment.
Child abuse is a particularly sensitive, emotive and delicate issue, and is widely perceived as a heinous crime by the general public.
Most forms of child abuse are a criminal offence but civil actions may be taken in negligence against local authorities and police entrusted with child protection.
Background
There is a vast range of legislation and common law guidance regulating the treatment of children, but the earliest statutory examples are the Infant Life Protection Act 1872 (regulating 'baby farming') and the Children Act 1889, imposing criminal sanctions to deter mistreatment of children.
Under the provisions of the poor laws, poor law guardians and juvenile courts were given powers to commit children into the care of local authorities.
Modern arrangements for child protection are incorporated into a range of legislation and have undergone an intense period of review since 2001.
In particular, the Home Office published a white paper in 2002 titled 'Protecting the Public', which contained a number of new proposals relating to child abuse offences, including an offence of 'grooming' and the strengthening of the sex offenders register (created under the Sexual Offences Act 1997).
The new provisions were contained in the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which was aimed at protecting children and the most vulnerable. The legislation, which came into force in May 2004, covered offenders who used new technology to abuse children. The act also contained measures to strengthen the monitoring of offenders on the sex offenders' register and a range of new offences and harsher sentences for sexual offences against children and vulnerable people.
Further reform of the current interagency approach to child protection (between the police and social services) has been reviewed following the Lord Laming report in 2003.
Lord Laming recommended fundamental changes to the organisation and management of services to support children and families. Among the many recommendations were the creation of a 'Children and Families Board' at the heart of Government, a 'National Agency for Children and Families' and a national children's database.
Controversies
Although anyone responsible for child abuse of any sort is treated with public opprobrium, the issue of 'paedophiles' and the potential for their rehabilitation and subsequent re-introduction into society has attracted much controversy in the UK and elsewhere.
This is largely because of the highly emotive nature of the sexual abuse of children, resulting from the perceived innocence of youth, the vulnerability of children and social conceptions of these child abusers as evil and beyond help.
Indeed, when it comes to punishment for those convicted of sexual offences against children, the notion of rehabilitation and human rights is confronted by a social desire for punishment and retribution. This is reflected in a rising trend in vigilantism and community 'witch hunts' against those released back into the community.
The issue remains a vexed one, with the judiciary's sentencing of offenders and Government initiatives to crack down on child abuse often clashing with social perceptions of the culpability of these offenders and the appropriate level of punishment.
Statistics
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- Seven per cent of children experience serious physical abuse at the hands of their parents or carers during childhood.
- One per cent of children experienced sexual abuse by a parent or carer and another three per cent by another relative during childhood. Eleven per cent of children experience sexual abuse by people known but unrelated to them. Five per cent of children experience sexual abuse by an adult stranger or someone they have just met.
- Six per cent of children experience serious absence of care at home during childhood.
- Six per cent of children experience frequent and severe emotional maltreatment during childhood.1
THERE is no universal definition of child sexual abuse. However, a central characteristic of any abuse, is the dominant position of an adult to force or coerce a child into sexual activity. Child sexual abuse, a deliberate exposure of a minor or a child to sexual abuse may include fondling a child’s genitals, masturbation, oral-genital contact, and vaginal and anal intercourse.
Child sexual abuse can take place within the family, by a parent, step-parent, siblings or other relatives; or even outside the home. For example, by a friend, neighbour, guardian or child–care person, teacher, or stranger. Sexual abuse in children is not restricted to physical contact, but could also include non-tenant abuses like exposure, voyeurism, and pornography. Abuse by peers can also occur.
Having established these basic facts, the question is: When can a child be said to be sexually abused? Child care expert, Shiela Walsh says “sexual abuse in children has been reported in many parts of the world, up to 8,000 times a year, but the number of unreported instances is far greater because children are afraid to tell anyone what has happened, and the legal procedure for validating an episode is difficult.
“Accurate statistics on prevalence of child sexual abuse are difficult to collect because of problems of underreporting and the lack of definition of what constitutes an abuse”. Does it then mean that when an individual who is 20 years old is sexual abused, such a person is not protected under the child rights law? asked Izuchukwu Dumbili, a legal practitioner who also argued that even a teenager who was forcefully given out in marriage to a man who had sex with her against her wish, has been sexually abused.
“Take for example, a young girl who visits a friend’s house and a male friend now takes advantage of her during the course of her visit. Even if she went there with an intention to have sexual intercourse and mid way, probably while they were still at fore play, she then say’s ‘no’ I am no longer interested, the law recognises her withdrawn consent. It recognises that even if you have penetrated her and then she says stop, any further thrust is rape and for a young person, that is child sexual abuse”, Iwuchukwu explained.
Going by what causes sexual abuse and why it is growing in our community in such an alarming rate, Helen Elilegbu, a practising nurse said children are exposed to sexual abuses when parents do not have time for them but entrust them to others. “Some of these children’s teachers are pedophiliac, that is people who prefer having sexual relationship with children. Children tend to be lured into sexual activities through their friends who are already sexually active and through watching of obscene pictures, including pornography films. Some do it out of curiosity, to know more about their sexuality”, she stated.
According to the lawyer, it is more of a psychological and cultural thing “when a forty–year old man sexually abuses a three year–old child or a six months old baby, how can you justify that. Such an individual is psychologically unbalanced. God forbid that such a criminal would go into the court to plead insanity and go scout free. “It is also a cultural thing to have a older man forced on a child, and as such, the child is sexually abused. But the family members do not see any crime in it, even though the law says it is criminal.
He explained that it is not enough for the law to say this is what will be done to abusers, rather, it should be able to prevent certain things from happening. Yes, there is a law called the Child Right Act 2003, but in matters like this, it is helpless. The law requires that the abused goes to court to present the case with medical evidence that shows semen has been deposited in her which must also match that of the culprit. But if the time span has passed and there is no evidence, then there is no case”.
Effects of sexual abuse on a child
Izuchukwu explained that most rape victims are usually reluctant to talk about the attack. They live in constant fear of being attacked again and as such experience disturbed sleep. According to Helen, children who are sexually abused tend to become psychologically depressed and bitter towards everybody around them. Socially, they tend to become introverts and they hardly trust any other person that comes their way.
Physically, they are traumatised and medically, there might be disturbances in their eating habit especially in the early weeks of abuse. They are unable to sleep for fear of another attack. Some of them even become sexually active through this means and cannot do without sex. For others, they may experience vaginismus, a situation whereby they tend not to enjoy sex any more.
No child is psychologically prepared to cope with repeated sexual stimulation. A child who is five or older, who is cared for by an abuser becomes trapped between affection or loyalty, and the sense that the sexual activities are terribly wrong. If the child tries to break away from the sexual relationship, the abuser may threaten the child with violence or loss of love. When the sexual abuse occurs in the family, the child may fear the anger, jealousy or shame of other family members, or be afraid the family will break up if the secret is told.”
A child who is a victim of prolonged sexual abuse usually develops low self-esteem, a feeling of worthlessness and an abnormally or distorted view of sex. The child may become withdrawn and mistrustful of adults, and can be become suicidal. Some even have difficulty relating to others. Most of them cannot concentrate in school and as such are affected education-wise,” she stressed.
Effect on the society
It affects the society in the sense that these children who have not probably developed turn out to be social misfits. So for every social misfit, the society would have to pay for it. Izuchukwu however noted that it is not only a girl–child that is abused, a boy–child could also be raped. “It is only that in this part of the world, girls are more of the victims than boys, but that does not rule out the fact that boys can also been raped.
That is more of the reason why Izuchukwu agreed with some individuals whose opinion is that rape should not only be a situation where a penetration has occurred but also an immersion, in which case the law also protects boys that are being raped. To protect these children, Shiela advised every parent to make every effort to help make a child feel safe and talk freely. “If a child says that he or she has been molested, it is the duty of the parent to remain calm and reassure the child that what happened was not his/her fault. Parents should seek medical examination and psychiatric consultation in this matter.
Parents can prevent or lessen the chance of sexual abuse by telling children that if someone tries to touch their body and do things that make them feel funny, they should say No to that person or tell their parent promptly. Professional prevention programmes in the system need to be encouraged. Children must know that respect does not mean blind obedience to adults.
She said, “parents should show love to their children by spending more time with them. They should teach their children about sexuality education. They should always watch what their kids do behind close doors and also monitor what they wear. To Izuchukwu, a socio-cultural body that will control cultural practices and traditions should be established. “This is because to a very large extent, sexual abuse in children is a cultural practice that must be discouraged at all cost. We should be our brother’s keeper by watching over each other’s children. Our law should be looked into to prevent such occurrences”.