Child Abuse
Child Abuse
Child abuse is the maltreatment against a young mind. It can be in any form such as physical, emotional or much worse, sexual abuse. This maltreatment act has many implications that an abused child might suffer from. In many countries around the world, numerous reports have been filed regarding abusive practices that made countless children suffer. In fact, many organizations and advocates were and still fighting against child abuse in many forms. The purpose of this writing is to further describe what child abuse is and to describe its characteristics as this abusive child experience may come in different types of abuse.
In some occasions, we may not recognize that a child is being abused just by looking on the child’s physical appearance. Since child abuse has many characteristics, a child may have been abused emotionally, which could bring traumatic experiences while growing up. In some instances, child abuse symptoms may not be evident in a child’s physical and mental aspect, but they could be suffering from abusive practices that are present in the society that live in.
The United States Department of Health and Human Services defines child abuse based on the law that says: child abuse is an act or a failure to act as a parent, guardian, or caretaker that resulted in a child’s death, emotional or physical harm, sexual exploitation or abuse (childwelfare.gov). This description also represents that child abuse is a form of child neglect in which many consequences may arise due to such carelessness. The child’s parent(s) or caretaker may not be aware that child neglect may lead to imminent danger to the child either emotionally, physically, and in some events, a life-threatening danger. Moreover, most of the state and federal laws that protect child welfare describe child abuse as a case being caused by parents and caregivers, but does not include abuses that are caused by other people or strangers.
Other State laws also explain that a child who is a witness of domestic violent practices is considered an abuse or neglect against them (childwelfare.gov). This claim depicts that child abuse as a form of emotional abuse against a child that would probably affect his emotional development.
As mentioned above, child abuse comes in different forms such as neglect, sexual abuse, physical abuse, spiritual abuse and even emotional abuse. Neglect is defined by CAPTA, a law that protects children from being abused, in different forms such as educational, physical, medical and emotional neglect. Educational neglect is when a child is prevented from enrolling in a school. Physical neglect is the actual abandonment and lack of supervision that puts the child in physical danger. Medical neglect is when a child is being denied from his or her medical needs. Emotional neglect is when the need for psychological care including affection and attention are not provided to a child (childhelp.org).
One of the most evident in child abuse is the physical abuse. This is when a child experienced an injury caused by physical attacks such as kicking, punching, biting and any other forms of offense that results in an injury against a child. Moreover, child abuse also happens when a child is being forced to work in exchange for money or child labor.
Children are meant to receive the proper care and affection that they need in addition to the necessities that their parents and caretakers should provide. In an event that the child’s welfare is being compromised, it is possible that child abuse indicators may also be present. Mainly, child abuse is an act of neglecting a child’s overall well-being and a failure to provide the child’s basic necessity as stated in children’s rights.
References
Childhelp.org (n.d.). Child Abuse Definitions. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://www.childhelp.org/page/-/pdfs/Child-Abuse-Definitions.pdf
US Department of Health and Human Services (2013, July). What is Child Abuse and Neglect? Recognizing the Signs and Symptoms. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/whatiscan.pdf#page=1&view=Introduction
