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| Wednesday, 3 September 2003 |
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Child abuse toll could be on the rise by Kushani Ratnayake A seven year old boy, cries silently watching his future collapsing amid the satisfaction of others' desires. This is not a rare happening. Getting abused physically and mentally has created a dilemma in his mind. Children are gifts from heaven, innocent and vulnerable, they have become victims to many forms of abuse. Therefore child abuse has many forms and faces. The foremost common are physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglecting children and emotional abuse. Some are victims of one form or the other, or in some instances more than one form. The silent victims have no where to run to or no one to lift them up and show the path to lead a normal life. Child abuse is a common phenomenon in developing countries and Sri Lanka too has its tales of woe to add to them. The most common forms of child abuse witnessed in Sri Lanka are physical abuse, sexual abuse and both physical and sexual abuse. According to statistics maintained at the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), the number of child abuse cases recorded for the year 2000 were 184 while in year 2001 it increased to 276 cases. Despite amendments introduced in 1995 to safeguard child rights, child abuse has been increasing rapidly during the past few years. Most children subjected to abuse are in the age group 12 to 16 and the percentage is 60.6, a study conducted by the Lawyers for Human Rights and Development (LHRD) revealed. NCPA was set up in June 1999 on the recommendation of a presidential Task Force on child protection, headed by Professor Harendra de Silva. The period of childhood is an unique and critical stage of life. Children the world over share the same basic needs of safety, health, nurturance and dignity. What is wrong in physical abuse is the long standing emotional effects on the child. It must also be remembered that for the fear of being abused children often lie to forget it. According to NCPA, sexual abuse of a child causes pain, injury, humiliation, anxiety, anger and a feeling of vengeance which could cause long term psychological effects. Physically abused children may, as adults display anti-social and violent behaviour. They may also be aggressive towards their spouses and children. Research has revealed that those who have been abused as children in the past are the most resistant to change. It has also been shown that a level of substance abuse and suicide is often associated. Sexual abuse most commonly occurs by an individual known by the victim, parent or other family member. Rarely is the abuser a stranger. Inter-familial and incest sexual abuse is difficult to document and manage because the child tends to hesitate to reveal such information and most often denies the abuse, while attempts are made to preserve the family unit. They might also recant out of fear of losing contact with the perpetrator who is commonly a family member or close friend tied to the family by various social means. "When we look at the victims of child abuse people tend to look down and scold an abused victim. This is like adding salt to the wounds. This happens most often when the case is inter-familial, where the victim is concerned, which in turn affects the child psychologically. Children feel unwanted and miserable. They fell helpless and insecure," and NCPA spokesman said. Not only today but also in the past, some children have been abused by their relatives and they did not have the strength to speak out to society. Most of the cases were hidden in the sand since no one came forward to take any action. Today, with the new day and age people are more concerned about their children's health and the long term psychological effects. Still in some cases there is a backwardness. Children should be aware of their rights and should have a knowledge on how children get abused. According to reports children suffer physical abuse most often from high risk parents. Over 90 per cent of abusive parents do not have a psychotic or criminal personality. Groups living in poverty have a tendency of physically abusing their children. Parents who suffer spousal abuse at home are also considered high risk parents and those with limited education or are mentally handicapped (who perceive what is normal child behaviour as misbehaving and punish the child harshly) also fall into the same category. Children are fragile and any harsh act could destroy their lives forever. They have the right to live freely without any fear of being abused. It is indeed sad to face this tragic situation, where future of the society gets devastated, leaving traces of pain and brutality. The cure for this situation is within us. People can heal the wounds of the victims but the wounds in the mind and heart cannot be cared so easily. |
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