CHILD ABUSE

 

CHILD ABUSE IN OUR SOCIETY.

Every now and then Children get abused or maltreated on a regular basis on various accounts, let’s take a depth look on what child abuse really is.

WHAT IS CHILD ABUSE.

     Child abuse is when a parent or guardian whether through negligence of action or failing to guard a child causes injury, death, emotional harm or risk of serious harm to a child maltreatment, physical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation and emotional abuse.

      According to Unicef 2017. Ghana has some laws for the protection and wellbeing of children, however enforcing the laws becomes a problem because the laws have not been made appropriate for the context. Violence and abuse of children, including sexual abuse remains very high with over 90% of children reporting having experienced physical violence both at home and in the school environment. Child labor and child trafficking are stubborn problems with no evidence of being reduced despite Government and civil society efforts in recent years to address these problems. There are various form of child abuse and together we will look through some of them.

PHYSICAL ABUSE

     This is when a parent or guardian or caregiver causes any non-accidental physical injury to a child. This child abuse has widespread in so many developing countries and Ghana. It involves striking, biting, hair pulling, shoving or pulling which can result in bruises, internal injuries, broken bones, emotional and psychological harm, lifelong injury and death and with Children having to face this sort of abuse they grow up getting bitter with so much hate causing aggression towards peer, fear, withdrawal, depression, violence themes in fantasy, insomnia, self-destruct.

CHILD NEGLECT

This is when a parent or caregiver does not give the care, supervision, affection and support needed for a Childs health, safety and well-being. This includes; Physical neglect and inadequate supervision, emotional neglect, medical neglect and Educational neglect.

        Quite often, in addressing the issues of child abuse in Ghana as in other developing countries, policymakers and child advocacy professionals have adopted tackling strategies derived from research conducted in foreign or developed countries. The effect is that these foreign based interventions have been ineffective in tackling child abuse in developing countries.

    CHILDREN AT RISK.

·      Very young children

·      Children with disabilities and health problems.

·      Children who have already been or are currently being abused or neglected. 

PARENTAL FACTORS 

·      Parent who are young

·      Parents who are poorly informed about parenting

·      Mental health issues, especially untreated.

    OTHER CONTEXTUAL FACTORS

·      Family factors and environmental factors