Child neglect is a failure to give care or attention to the children's.

Child abuse is a bad treatment or maltreatment of children's.

Child abuse

Ill-treatment and neglect is a problem that affects kids, families, and communities throughout the world. In addition to the initial harm or repeated maltreatment, children are also exposed to permanent effects throughout their life such as low self-esteem, behavioural problems, learning difficulties, abusiveness toward others, inability to establish healthy sexual relationships , promiscuity or prostitution, increased incidences of homeless child, increased rates of suicide and greater involvement in criminal activities.

There are three broad categories of abuse: physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological maltreatment

i) Physical abuse

Physical abuse refers to the injury of a child on purpose, e.g., striking, kicking, beating, biting or any action that leads to physical injury. This physical injury is caused by their parents (mothers, caregivers or anyone of the families or other individuals). The children physically mistreated by a ropes, sticks, stones, hand hit, hot iron, hot water, or any other objects which damage the physical body of the children.

Signs and symptoms of possible physical abuse include:

  • Bruises within the affected area with different shapes and sizes.
  • Unexplained or repetitive dental injuries.
  • Unexplained or multiple broken bones.
  • Major Head injuries, etc.

ii) Sexual abuse

Sexual abuse is the use, persuasion or forcing of a child to engage in sexual acts or imitation of such acts or any sexual act made by an adult without the permission of her. This sexual abuse includes fondling a child's genitals, making the child fondle the adult's genitals, engage a child in sexual intercourse, incest, rape, sodomy, exhibitionism, sexual exploitation, or exposure to pornography.

Sexual abuse may take place within the family, by a parent's, boyfriend or girlfriend, or by an adult caretaker outside the family.

Signs and symptoms:

Pain during walking, running, or sitting; recurrent urinary tract infections, problems with urination, itching, bruises, bleeding, or discharges in the genital, vaginal, or anal areas, exposed to venereal diseases, In addition to physical problems, they are vulnerable to a number of psychological or emotional problems.

iii) Psychological abuse

Psychological maltreatment also called emotional abuse or behavioural abuse. This type of ill-treatment is commonly occurring after physical or sexual abuse.

Signs and Symptoms:

Eating disorders, self-abusive behaviours, sleep disorders (e.g. nightmares), unexpected bed wetting, speech disorders, aggressiveness, fear, belittling, rejecting, isolating, terrorising, etc.

Child neglect

Neglect is a failure to meet the child's basic needs, e.g., not providing enough food, shelter or basic supervision, necessary medical or mental health treatment, adequate education or emotional comfort.

Types of chlld neglect:

  • Physical neglect. The caregiver fails to meet the physical needs of the child including nutritional neglect, clothing neglect, or inadequate hygiene.
  • Medical neglect. The caregiver fails to attend the child's medical needs when there are enough resources.
  • Inadequate supervision. The caregiver is unable to provide appropriate guidance for the child, exposes the child to hazards, or leaves the child with an inappropriate caregiver.
  • Emotional neglect. The caregivers do not meet the child's needs for attention and affection.
  • Educational neglect. The caregiver does not attend to the educational needs of the child.

Prevention:

  • Health education of the community about the harmful impact of abuse and neglect as you learned from this session.
  • Individual counselling of the caregivers or the families.
Last modified: Tuesday, 21 February 2017, 4:37 PM