Spotting and Stopping Child Abuse

We as humans have the tendency of blocking out images and thoughts that are very disturbing. We would rather pass by homeless people and beggars on the street and pretend that they don't exist because if we turn to look at them we feel a pang of guilt that grips us and we are forced to face reality. It is sometimes difficult to deal with uncomfortable situations, to acknowledge that these people do exist and that we do have the ability to help in whatever small way to ensure that they have basic necessities to survive. More often, we find ourselves not wanting to get involved and taking ourselves out of the situation to avoid having to deal with it.

The case is much different when it comes to child abuse though. This is because the thought of a child being beaten and tortured for very minor offences is much more difficult to ignore or deny. If you are a mother or father the feeling is likely to be way more intense to think that that could easily be your child. It would be very difficult for any person to walk away or say nothing if child abuse is suspected. I doubt if anyone here is not going to get involved if they think there is something they can do to address the problem and help the child.

To be able to make a contribution to stopping child abuse you will need to know the symptoms. Child abuse can best be described as the act of inflicting physical, verbal or emotional pain on a child. Most people tend to think that child abuse is only sexual or physical but it is very possible to inflict harm on a child for life just by abusing them verbally. Then again, we make the mistake of thinking that the symptoms of child abuse will always be seen and easily noticed, however, there are some that run much deeper and are more subtle.

Symptoms of sexual abuse

· Fear of staying alone with someone they know and trust.

· Being withdrawn or enjoying isolation

· Fear of having their clothes removed or themselves being touched

· Drawing pictures that are sexually explicit

Symptoms of physical abuse

· Wearing clothes that cover their bodies and refusing to remove them even in when it's hot.

· Increased aggressive behavior towards peers

· Afraid of being touched

· Injuries that the child cannot explain

Symptoms of Emotional abuse

· Fear of reprisal when making small mistakes

· Slow mental and emotional development

· Responding to pain or punishment as if they deserve it

Symptoms of Neglect

· Poor health

· Constant look of tiredness

· Poor articles of clothing

· Discarded illnesses

In reality child abuse can never really be stopped as it is impossible to zero in on all abusers at any given time and there are always those who will get away with it. However, we can all do our part in stopping child abuse. A lot of us encounter and deal with children in our daily lives. From a parent who meets his or her child's friends or coaches a team; a teacher and her pupils; a camp supervisor and the kids under his or her care, we will have opportunities to interact with children on many occasions. By being aware of the symptoms of child abuse we make ourselves attuned and alerted to its presence. Our ability to intervene and do something about cases of child abuse is the victim's only hope, especially if the perpetrators of the abuse are those who are entrusted with his care and general welfare.

Recently resigned civil servant from the Philippine Foreign Service. Specializes in Protocol and served 3 Philippine Presidents as Presidential Protocol Officer. Assigned along with her diplomat husband and son in Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles and Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C. for 6 and a half years.

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