Child Abuse is a widespread though underreported phenomena and still a present issue. Every 4th girl is sexually or physically abused and so is one in six boys. So nobody of us can deny the presence of abuse and it's important for everyone of us, to be confronted with this theme at least once to act the right way if someone of us suspects a child being abused.
But before presenting you the hard facts I'd like to tell you something about the different forms abuse can take.
1.1. The best known form is sexual abuse:
Child sexual abuse is any misuse of an infant or abuse of power and trust over it for sexual pleasure and gratification.
It starts with touching and exposing them to pornographic material and progresses to acts like forced masturbation and rape.
Sexual abuse is a crime which is usually committed in secret and may continue for many years. In addition to the pain those children go through they also feel guilty and ashamed, and often suffer in isolation.
It is also the type I want to focus on.
1.2. Another kind of child maltreatment is physical abuse:
22% of all cases of child violation is physical abuse.
It is the most visible form of abuse and may be defined as any act which results in a non-accidental injury. It includes all forms of hitting, smacking, pushing, kicking, hair pulling or any other forms that harm and hurt a child.
This usually happens when a parent is angry or frustrated, even though this is definitely no excuse for those incidents. The longer physical abuse continues, the more serious are the injuries and the more difficult is it to stop it.
1.3. The third type is emotional abuse:
Defining emotional abuse is much more difficult, because there are neither real signs, nor any visible injuries. That's also one of the reasons why it is so hard to put a stop to it. But commonly you can say it is the systematic tearing down of another human being.
It includes shutting children away and isolating them, constant criticism or ignorance, manipulation and the creation of guilt. It constantly attacks the child's psyche and self-concept, until it sees him or herself unworthy of love and affection. Even though it doesn't occur so often (only 4% of all abuses are emotional), it is the most destructive of all types of abuse, because it ruins a child's soul and is almost absolutely invisible. Those infants suffer at least as much as if they had been abused physically, they even may die as a matter of it.
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