- Who is a Child?
A child is someone who is between the ages of 0 – 18 years old, according to the Nigeria National Child Welfare Policy.
- What is an abuse?
An abuse is any form of unfair, cruel or violent treatment of somebody, particularly a child.
- What is Child Abuse?
Child abuse is the crime of harming a child in a physical, sexual or emotional way. It is any behavior that harms a child.
Child abuse is not only about speaking bad words to children, but engaging them in child labour to feed the family instead of being in school, not giving them food on time, physically abusing them, etc.
Child abuse is harmful to a child because it can lead to juvenile delinquency, bad peer influence and a bad future for the child.
- Types of Child Abuse
- Emotional and psychological abuse e.g. insult or abuse
- Physical abuse e.g. beating
- Sexual abuse e.g. molestation
- Exploitation or trafficking abuse e.g. child labour
- Maltreatment Abuse e.g. partial love
- Abandonment or neglect e.g. disowning a child or starving a child.
- Perpetrator of Child Abuse
A perpetrator is anyone who abuses children. These people can be parents, relatives, family, teachers, friends and strangers. Research has shown that perpetrators are usually people who are close to a child. E.g. parents and relatives.
- How to prevent Child Abuse
- Parents must be educated on the forms of child abuse
- Parents should show love to their children
- Children must be educated on being careful about strangers who may want to abuse them sexually.
- Report any case of child abuse so as to prevent future occurrences.
- Promote child abuse prevention programmes in school.
- Parents should cultivate the habit of asking their children about their day so they can know what is going on in their lives.
CONCLUSION: It is important for parents, schools and the general society to protect children from any form of abuse because they are the future of the country.
Thank you.
AISHA BALOGUN
MAY 2019
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