Child Abuse Facts for Parents

Child Abuse is very widespread and familiar phenomenon, a shocking characteristic of modern world! In today’s scenario, it has become a very common incident when the innocent, defenseless, helpless child goes through physical and emotional ordeal. The effects of this trauma can be very deep and can last for life long period, which destroys the very roots of his or her physical and mental make up. Thorough studies have shown that negligence and emotional abuse of child, which is so common every day, leaves much deeper impact on his/her mind than of physical abuse.

Child Abuse is an act that is intended to harm or endanger emotional or physical development of a child. It also includes the acts of negligence towards child. It can take place at every strata of community regardless of culture, religion, ethnicity and income. The abuse is further classified as physical, sexual, emotional, and neglect. The severity of the abuse varies from place to place and can lead some times to physical injuries or even in death.

Physical Abuse
Physical Abuse can be defined as the act of physical aggression inflicted by an abuser that results in any kind of physical injury. The aggression act which is not intended for any physical injury is also included under physical abuse. There are many parameters which can lead to physical abuse.
1. If abuser beats, slaps or hits the child the case comes clearly under physical abuse.
2. Burning the skin with cigarette ends or other hot objects come under physical abuse.
3. If abuser offers severe punishment physically then it can become a good case of child abuse.
4. Pinching, pushing, hair pulling, kicking, throwing the child are some of common examples of child abuse.
5. Shaken baby syndrome – it is the case of shaking a toddler vigorously which can lead to serious brain injuries.
6. Drug use during pregnancy – use of drugs or alcohol forcibly or voluntarily can be fatal to the child.
Symptoms of such physical abuse include baffling injuries, scared behavior by the child, and awkward clarification of injury.
Today, many children are abused physically by their close ones. Even the number of casualties who succumb to injuries is not less. And for the survived ones, memories of such a cruel treatment continue to haunt in future.

Sexual abuse
When there is any kind of sexual act between a child and an adult it marks the event as sexual child abuse. This includes intercourse, penetration, rape, incest etc.
1. If any adult is performing any kind of sexual act by revealing genitals, exhibiting any form of pornography, narrating offensive stories then such acts are considered as sexual child abuse.
2. If any adult is asking a child to handle, fondle his genitals or an adult strokes the child’s genitals then it clearly defines the case of sexual abuse. If any adult is abusing the privacy of child by asking or forcing to undress then also, it comes under sexual abuse.
3. If someone exploits the innocent child through prostitution or makes its use for pornography it gets included under sexual abuse.
Generally it has been observed that very close ones or relatives are often accountable for this kind of abuse. The common symptoms of sexual abuses are mainly when child has physical indicative signs such as genital pain, stains of blood on undergarment, injuries in genital area. This can happen in any family. General characteristics of such families are the families which are living in isolation like support systems, orphan houses or the families facing financial crisis.

Emotional abuse
It can be defined as any kind of behavior that can relate with child’s emotional and communal growth. It can vary from normal vocal foul language to extreme and cruel chastisement which can leave deep brunt on the mind of child. This form co-exists with other forms of child abuse and has deeper effects than its two other counter parts. intimidating, harassment, lack of affection towards child, ignoring behavior, forced exposure to violence or pornography, kidnapping, taking undue advantage of helpless child are some of the instances of emotional abuse. This form of abuse can be inflicted by adults or other children.

Negligence
This is a very familiar form of child abuse. In fact, all surveys related to child abuse denote a single thing that this form of abuse is present in greater proportion than any other form of abuse. As this is an act of exclusion, the victims in this form are not easy to find out. One should not mix negligence with emotional abuse as negligence is an act where someone fails to provide fundamental requirements of child. If the same act is repeated again and again then it surely gets classified as child abuse.

If we see collectively at the problem of child abuse then it is easy to find that factors like stress, drug abuse, personal problems, personal history of being abused, isolation plays important role in inflicting such a heinous acts. Parents should adapt certain guidelines like teaching children for self defense, coping with own anger; discipline the child without giving any punishments, building great rapport with them, boosting their confidence levels.

Child abuse promotes cyclical communities with this agony of child abuse repeating from one generation to another. Somewhere, we have to break this cycle. Somewhere we have to share a common platform, we have to eradicate our own shortcomings to give this next generation a healthy happy life nurturing best values in them.