Child Abuse
Index
1. Child Abuse Generally
1.1.Sexual abuse
1.2 Physical abuse
1.3 Emotional abuse
2. Who Are The Abusers?
3. The Prevalence Of Child Sexual Abuse
4. How To Recognise A Child...
4.1 ... who is sexually abused
4.2 ... who is physically abused
4.3 ... who is emotionally abused
5. How To Safe A Children
6. Statistics
7. Kid`s stories
1. Child Abuse Generally
Child abuse is a widespread though underreported phenomena and still a present issue. Every 4 th girl is sexually or physically abused and so is one in six boys.
The situation in Austria: Every year about 10 children are dying, about 1200 children go through a grievous bodily harm, about 200 children get grievous neglect and about 500 children get sexually abused. The estimated number of unknown cases shows, that 10.000 – 25.000 children get victims of sexual maltreatment.
So nobody of us can deny the presence of abuse and it’s important for everyone of us, to be confronted with this theme.
Something about the different forms abuse can take:
1.1 The best known form is sexual abuse:
Child sexual abuse is any misue of abuse of power and trust over it for sexual pleasure. It starts with touching and progresses to acts like 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.
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. It includes all forms of hitting, pushing, kicking, hair pulling or any forms that harm and hurt a child.
This usually happens when a parent is angry and frustrated but even though this is definitely no excuse for those incidents.
1.3 The third type is emotional abuse:
Defining emotional abuse is 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 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 creation of guilt. It attacks the child’s psyche until it seems him or herself unworthy of love.
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.
2. Who Are The Abusers?
Child sexual abuse is a crime most commonly committed by men (95% of the abusers are male) against both girls and boys.
Children are most likely to be sexually abused by someone they know and trust or by someone in authority by a stranger. 85% of those incidents are caused by family members, neighbours or friends, persons who are not suspicious at all, because they just seem to “like” the child. They don’t necessarily look dirty, weird or creepy or act suspiciously.
The sad thing is, that often the own father is responsible for the abuse, a person who should take care of his child.
3. The Prevalence Of Child Sexual Abuse:
The most recent study of child sexual abuse showed that, including any unwanted sexual event that occurred before age 18, over 1 in 2 females and 1 in 4 males had experienced at least one such event.
The most common form of sexual abuse was “flashing” – which accounted for 27% of the experiences – the second most common was “touching” which 23% of the people had suffered. If certain “less serious” forms of abuse are excludes the prevalence figures are 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys.
4. How To Recognise A Child ....
4.1 ... who is sexually abused:
Behavioural changes are often one of the most common signs. These changes may include any or all of the following indications.
• Sudden fear to spend time with someone the child has loved before or with a
relative.
• A unreasonable fear to go to certain places.
• Some children run away from home, while others turn to drugs and alcohol.
• Also eating disorders and problems in school can be traced back to sexual abuse.
• Nearly all abused children have nightmares.
• Most four or five year old don’t care who sees them naked but victims of sexual
may hide from even their mother.
• Also artwork can often show signs of abuse. Excessive use of black and red as
well as pictures showing violence and death are standing for pain and fear.
4.2 ... who is physically abused:
Signs of physical abuse are more obvious than all others.
• As soon as a child has unexplained bruises or injuries, it’s important to watch it and
suspect physical abuse.
• Also bite marks, burns and fractures in unusual places are indicators.
The behaviour of those children is quite similar to those having been sexual abused. But they are also aggressive and hurt others, which is often the way to express their feelings.
4.3 ... who is emotionally abused:
As it mentioned at the beginning, it is quite difficult to recognise an emotionally abused child. Behavioural indicators are for example
• negative statements about itself, because it has lost all its self-confidence.
• The child may also be shy, passive and may be highly aggressive and cruel to
others.
• There are also often lags in physical, mental and emotional development.
5. How To Save A Children:
No one is able to protect his or her child all the time and in every situation and to lock out any dangerous moments in ist life, but we may reduce the danger by following these 2 advises:
- Check all the persons, who are left alone with the child or take care of it.
- Talk with the kids about maltreatment and abusers and how it may recognise them and react, if it gets in contact with them (yell, run, tell). Also explain the differents between “safe” and “unsafe” secrets.
It has to feel confident about using safety strategies.
These are important facts, which make a child’s life more safe and which may prevent any kind of abuse.
6. Statistics
[Statistik erst nach download zu sehen]
7. Kid`s Stories
[Kid's Stories erst nach download zu sehen]
