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You can help prevent child abuse
COVINGTON - Each year, tens of thousands of children are traumatized by physical, sexual, and emotional abusers or by caregivers who neglect them, making child abuse as common as it is shocking. The scars can be deep and long-lasting, affecting not just abused children but society.
Most of us can't imagine what would make an adult use violence against a child, and the worse the behavior is, the more unimaginable it seems. But the incidence of parents and other caregivers consciously, even willfully, committing acts that harm the very children they're supposed to be nurturing is a sad fact of human society that cuts across all lines of ethnicity and class. Whether the abuse is rooted in the perpetrator's mental illness, substance abuse, or inability to cope, the psychological result for each abused child is often the same: deep emotional scars and a feeling of worthlessness.
In the United States, the federal legislation that sets minimum standards for how states handle child abuse defineschild abuse and neglect as "any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm."
In 2005, the most recent year for which the U.S. government has figures, 12.1 of every 1,000 American children, almost 900,000 in all, suffered abuse by adults, with parents of victims accounting for almost 80 percent of the abusers. Every day, about four children die in the U.S. because of abuse or neglect, most of them babies or toddlers. And those are just the cases authorities know about: for every incidence of child abuse or neglect that gets reported, it's estimated that two others go unreported.
So you may ask yourself why someone would abuse a defenseless child. What kind of person abuses a child? Not all child abuse is deliberate or intended. Several factors in a person's life may combine to cause them to abuse a child:
Stress, including the stress of caring for children, or the stress of caring for a child with a disability, special needs, or difficultbehaviors
Lack of nurturing qualities necessary for child care
Immaturity: a disproportionate number of parents who abuse their children are teenagers
Difficultycontrolling anger
Personal history of being abused
Isolation from the family or community
Physical or mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety
Alcohol or drug abuse
Personal problems such as marital conflict,unemployment, or financial difficulties.
No one has been able to predict which of these factors will cause someone to abuse a child. A significantfactor is that abuse tends to be intergenerational - those who were abused as children are more likely to repeat the act when they become parents or caretakers.
In addition, many forms of child abuse arise from ignorance. Sometimes a cultural tradition leads to abuse. Such beliefs include:
Children are property.
Parents have the right to control their children in any way they wish.
Children need to be toughened up to face the hardships of life.
Child abuse can produce dire consequences during the victim's childhood and adulthood. Some effects of child abuse are obvious: a child is malnourished or has a cast on her arm; a nine-year-old develops a sexually transmitted disease. But some physiological effects of child abuse, such as cognitive difficulties or lingering health problems, may not show up for some time or be clearly attributable to abuse. Other effects of child abuse are invisible or go off like time bombs later in life. Many adults who were abused as children findit difficultto trust other people, endure physical closeness, and establish intimate relationships.
Although many people are reluctant to get involved in other families' lives, when it comes to child abuse, you don't have the option of keeping mum. If you know of a child being abused or even suspect abuse, you have the responsibility to report it. In the United States, Canada, and Australia, the concept of mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse is well established and is beginning to catch on in other countries around the world. Laws on mandatory reporters designate classes of professionals - typically school personnel, social workers, health care workers, mental health professionals, childcare providers, and law enforcement personnel, but in some states also clergy, filmprocessors, and drug abuse counselors - who must report suspected child abuse. There to date 18 states and Puerto Rico that require all citizens to report suspected abuse or neglect.
By reporting, you can make a tremendous difference in the life of a child and the child's family, especially if you help stop the abuse early. Early identificationand treatment can help mitigate the long-term effects of abuse. If the abuse is stopped and the child receives competent treatment, the abused child can begin to regain a sense of self-confidenceand trust. Parents may also benefit from support, parent training and anger management.
In addition to reporting suspected child abuse when you learn about it, you can intervene effectively if you encounter a parent or caregiver abusing or about to abuse a child by striking the child or screaming at the child: it's a matter of offering on-the-spot help rather than scolding or threatening to call authorities. If you yourself are overwhelmed by childcare responsibilities, frustrated by a baby who won't stop crying, or in danger of harming your children, you can reach out for help. Pick up the phone and call someone who can help, even if it's someone - like the voice at the end of a hotline - you don't know.
Safehome cannot make a report of child abuse for you, but can assist you with making a call with your local enforcement or social service agency.
For more information, to obtain a blue ribbon to wear in support of child abuse victims and/or survivors, or how you can help End Child Abuse contact Safehome at (540) 965-3237 or 1-(877) 393-3672. Safehome is the local agency dedicated to assisting child and adult victims of domestic and sexual violence. All services are free and confidential, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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