Abuse

Abuse in simple terms is simply maltreatment, any other definition may apply but I prefer to use this term here. Abuse is common everywhere and I think its prevalence is due to the fact that some abusers are not aware that they are abusing, while the abused is not also awake to the fact that he/she is being abused. There are all sorts of abuse, and each type result from situation or circumstances the abused person or the abuser found themselves in at the time of abuse. Abuse could be on a child, from husband to wife or vice versa, employer to employee, relations to one another etc.
What brought the issue of abuse to mind was a post I read over at Refinedone. I could not imagine such cruelty been meted out to children that have seen so much misery in their life, and who deserve nothing else but lots of love and care.

Child Abuse; this is simply defined as child maltreatment, either physical or emotional. Mostly by a person well known to the child, custodian, which could be the parent, guardian, child minder, babysitter, adopted parents, relatives etc. Children could be subjected to different abuse one of which is;

Sexual abuse – of children is common these days, and from articles read on the subject, abusers are predominantly male. Different terms are used to describe these conditions like paedophile and the likes. Most parents leave their children in the care of trusted relations or friends who violates these trusts by sexually abusing the children left in their care. In most cases, such children don’t want to talk or report the incident to their parents for fear of being punished. It is the parent’s duty to subject their children to some questioning if you suspect that a form of abuse could have taken place in your absence and very gently encourage the child to tell you what transpired between he/she and the abuser and instantly take steps to prevent re-occurrence, in most cases, reporting to the authorities in charge of such situation. (That is if you’re not the abuser.)

Physical violence on children – like the type Refinedone mentioned in her post. Hitting children is a form of abuse, for those who have been claiming ignorance; it is also a punishable offence under law regardless of wherever you live. We are expected to train and discipline our children, a little spanking once in a while or verbal correction is ok. But when a child has serious injuries, as a result of punishment mete out by the parents or other persons, that is no longer discipline but abuse. And if you notice burn marks, bruises, or injuries in the shape of welts, cords or belt on your child, please, question the child as to the origin of such injuries and immediately seek ways to stop whoever is responsible.

It is important to note that some children do abuse other children also, maybe when at school, playground, at the park or when visit is paid to friends who has kids that are older than your own. The important thing is early detection of the abuse before it’s repeatedly carried out and caused the child physical, psychological and emotional problems.