Child abuse is among the social problems that predominantly affect the public. Child abuse refers to the physical, psychological, emotional, and sexual mistreatment of children by parents or their surroundings. Parents or caregivers to the child’s actions harm the child’s health and wellbeing of the child, therefore, leading to the maltreatment of the children. Children are believed to be from 0 to 18 years and have rights and freedoms that protect them during this period from any form of abuse. Child abuse is a problem since it has continued to affect the community due to social, economic, and political factors. Physical abuse in children refers to the mistreatment of a child on their body where the abuser intentionally harms the child.
In most cases, the abuser releases anger on the child by hitting them with their hands or heavy objects. Psychological abuse refers to the situation where an abuser makes a child feel ashamed and worthless and threatens to commit physical abuse to the child if the child communicates with other people in the surrounding (Hupe & Stevenson, 2019). Emotional abuse is where the child faces threats from the abuser hence making the child feel sad and sexual abuse is where the child is forced to involve the child in sexual acts to provide the abuser with financial gains. The rise in child abuse leads to more affected children, hence school dropouts and increased abuse of drugs due to children’s activities.
Review of Literature
Child abuse in the past was practiced through forced labor and human trafficking. The children were sold to other nations and worked for companies and homesteads to produce goods. The free delivery earned the companies more revenue than the typical cost of employing workers to undertake the activities. The agencies that provided the children acquired them by kidnapping and enticing them with sweets and money. Also, some families sold the children for food and money, which allowed the agencies to have more children. Child abuse has evolved since children are now subjected to rape, child labor, and mistreatment that is not only at home but also at schools (Font & Maguire-Jack, 2020). Parents neglected their responsibilities to the children, such as providing education, food, and shelter, which led to children fending for their needs, subjecting them to working challenging tasks for under-wage payments. Also, the children lack proper medical attention due to neglect from their parents. Child abuse has led to the death of children in the past and continues to subject children to hard labor. Among the children suffering from child abuse, boys are subjected to hard work while girls are forced into sexual activities. The number of boys abused is one-third higher than that of girls.
The highest age of children facing child abuse is aged between 5-17 years that are used to working in companies to spend less on production and payment of employees. 17% of the children worldwide suffer from child labor, and it is most experienced in Africa. Countries with low standards of living have the highest cases of child abuse. Also, although the children work, they are subjected to forced labor and work overtime without proper feeding, shelter, and rest, leading to more deaths. There are at least 1500 deaths that occur years due to child labor. The poor living conditions increase the cases f forced labor since the children are forced to work to get food and shelter that they do not have back at home (Hupe & Stevenson, 2019). However, child abuse has reduced over the years, increasingly widespread in nations. The decline in child abuse cases is due to the economic developments and the efforts of child protection agencies. The United States Health and Human Services Child Maltreatment Report shows that child abuse cases are mainly due to neglect of children by parents, leading to 1570 deaths in 2011 (Hupe & Stevenson, 2019). Most of the deaths that occur are of children under four years who succumb due to the harsh conditions in their environment.
Possible Causes of Child Abuse
One of the causes of child abuse is parental factors where the parents are abusive. The abusive parents may embrace child abuse due to their past experiences, such as harassment, drug and alcohol abuse, and depression. Their childhood experiences lead to child abuse since the parents have low self-esteem and are hostile (Font & Maguire-Jack, 2020). The parents embrace violence as a problem-solving way in their parental journey. Also, parents who do not have proper parental skills result in child abuse, such as beating children due to a lack of meeting unattainable expectations set by the parents. Also, unwanted pregnancies in parents may lead to child abuse due to social isolation and stress from the rest of the family. Also, the perception of children being properties of their parents increases child labor as the parents discipline the children in their preferred ways that violate their rights.
Economic factors also lead to child abuse due to financial constraints experienced by families trying to meet the needs of the children. Due to the economic hardships, parents lack the finances to provide food and shelter, leading to the children getting enticed by strangers searching for food (Hupe & Stevenson, 2019). Also, the parents use children as bait to earn money by sending them to the streets to borrow money and giving them products to sell, such as fruits, instead of sending them to schools. The lack of necessities also leads to children getting involved with forced labor to help sustain their living: unemployment and the high cost of living increase child abuse among families.
Also, using drugs and alcohol increases child abuse as sexual and physical abuse occur when drugs influence people. Parents result in drug and substance abuse due to unemployment, isolation from the community, and depression and therefore harm their children as the side effects of the drugs. The parents and people around the children are unaware of their state as they develop abnormal behaviors after using alcohol and drugs (Rosenthal & Thompson, 2020). Family members suffering from mental disorders feel neglected and therefore harm their children knowingly and unknowingly.
Prevalence of Child Abuse
Worldwide, the United States has the highest record of child abuse. At least five children are affected by child abuse in the nation. There are four million reported child abuse cases to the child protection services that do not include unreported cases that are higher than reported (Font & Maguire-Jack, 2020). Most child abuse incidences are not reported due to threats from the abuser to end the child’s life or even the physical torture that the child faces cause them to fear reporting. In 2019, at least 656000 child abuse victims were covered by the child protection services (Rosenthal & Thompson, 2020). The rise in the number of child abuse cases is due to many factors, such as the financial gain to the abuser, which is the most common one. One is facing child abuse in the United States among every seven children. The most commonly experienced form of child abuse is sexual abuse that continues to rise in all nations. Financially, agencies use children as sex workers and profits, increasing the agencies’ income. Although there are rights and laws protecting children, the activities happen in the community and are not reported.
Consequences of Child Abuse
Although child abuse affects the children mainly, it also affects the people in the surroundings and the abusers. The consequences are categorized into psychological effects, behavioral, and societal repercussions. The psychological repercussions include diminishing cognitive skills in children with a distraction in brain development in terms of self-control and paying attention while learning (Lippard & Nemeroff, 2020). Also, the children experience poor emotional and mental health where they face depression, develop anxiety, and develop suicidal thoughts due to the traumatic events they face. The children also build attachment issues and rarely socialize as the traumatic events cause them to develop antisocial behavior that creates criminal character traits later in life.
The behavioral effects include contracting sexually acquired diseases due to transactional sex. The children adopt drug and alcohol abuse to forget the trauma and their depressive status (Lippard & Nemeroff, 2020). The embracing of alcohol and drug abuse increases the rate of criminal activities that leads to many children being detained in juvenile; for example, boys develop bullying and hostility due to the mistreatment as children. People who have faced child abuse are also at high risk of adopting child abuse to children in their surroundings since they were also abused and neglected at a young age.
Child abuse also leads to an increase in teenage pregnancies due to the sexual abuse of young girls. The increase in adolescent pregnancies leads to several abortions as girls seek to preserve their dignity from the community. There is the stigmatization of the children due to malnutrition, lack of proper education, and trauma. Children acquired to provide labor suffer from racial and ethnic discrimination and are therefore subjected to more work and sexual violence.
Policies Preventing Child Abuse
Globally, many organizations and governments have imposed policies that safeguard children. The policies provide deliberate rules, frameworks, or guidelines that protect individuals under 18 from abuses. Approaches focus on distinct issues, including minimum age of marriage, labor, sexual consent, and criminal responsibility. Besides, the policies focus on survival rights and the health of children (Liu & Vaughn, 2019). All children have the right to be nurtured and grow in an appropriate environment.
Similarly, the policies ensure that every child, regardless of political, social-cultural, or economic status, has the right to get quality medication or treatment from the best health facilities. The policies ensure all players, including the public and private sectors, caregivers, and parents, ensure that every child access quality services (Merrick & Guinn, 2018). Besides, the policies put special measures to mitigate the impacts of diseases such as HIV and AIDs on kids.
Additionally, most policies ensure that children get developmental rights such as; leisure and play, cultural, educational and security, and parental care. This policy ensures that children are not abused but are provided with friendly community parks to participate in recreational activities. On the contrary, policies protect children by encouraging parents to provide equal educational opportunities (Rosenthal & Thompson, 2020). In this way, education aid breaks down cycles of poverty and illiteracy. The various policies ensure that children are given both formal, informal educations. Formal education includes curriculum-based learning, while informal education educates children about the community.
Additionally, some cultural practices and beliefs may induce child abuse practices. Therefore, the policies provide programs that discourage simple artistic techniques, such as against Female Genital Mutilation (Russell et al., 2020). Also, the guidelines offer mechanisms that ensure orphan children inherit what is rightfully theirs despite age or sex.
Furthermore, the policies have encouraged the establishment of community-based centers in every area that protects children. The centers address various violence issues holistically by offering services that enhance child protection. The workers in the centers are well trained to provide intensive assessments and community services via casework (Rosenthal & Thompson, 2020). Also, the centers offer help in teaching parents and caregivers on providing moderate discipline that provides a stable environment.
Also, the policies have imposed punishment and penalties that restrain individuals from participating in child abuse. When a caregiver, guardian, or parent commits sexual acts, violence, or harmful acts to a child in any country (Rosenthal & Thompson, 2020). The policies assume that a child cannot choose; hence the court induces punishment to a parent or an adult. The state constitution and organizations prohibit cruelty like mental abuse, physical attacks, and neglect. The laws allow felony and misdemeanor punishments (Russell et al., 2020). According to most state laws, conviction due to child abuse would result in several fines depending on the situation’s intensity. Additionally, misdemeanor offenses may result in several months or days in prison or even provide restraining orders that limit parental rights.
Additionally, the policies address drugs and substance abuse. All children globally deserve protection from the use of illicit drugs. The guidelines ensure that products have customized documents that outline a business protocol when formulating products. The measures play a role in strengthening existing laws that fight drug trafficking (Zhang, Simmel & Nepomnyaschy, 2021). Also, the policies ensure the dangers of drug abuse are incorporated in the curriculum and offer activities that help engage children.
Similarly, the policies protect children from physical abuse such as corporal punishment, kicking, biting, and burns. Some of the effective measures that help prevent physical abuse include; advocating different forms of punishing children and enforcing laws on cruel, degrading punishments. Furthermore, policies protect child trafficking. This abuse involves abduction, trafficking, or selling kids (Zhang, Simmel & Nepomnyaschy, 2021). The policies ensure that vulnerable children are provided maximum security. Additionally, the measures have promoted enacting and enforcing anti-trafficking policies that abide by international standards.
Conclusion
In conclusion, child abuse is a problem that many people fall victim. The neglect and mistreatment of children are due to many reasons such as economic instability, use of drugs and alcohol, and previous cases of child abuse to parents. Although there are attempts to reduce child abuse globally, the chances are still evident due to increased demand for free or cheap labor, human trafficking, and sexual abuse. The protective measures to prevent child abuse include equal distribution of resources such as food, shelter, and medication to all children to prevent children from suffering from neglect from their parents. Children require equal access to education and other necessities. Also, labor laws prevent children from working for their needs.
The evidence provided shows that the best policies in preventing child abuse include establishing community-based centers that protect and fight for children facing child abuse. The children can freely report abuse cases with no fear as they will have support from the agencies and protection from the abusers. Also, educating children on their rights and freedoms and hence prevent them from facing abuse and enlighten them o the usage of drugs and substances and their effects on their health.
References
Font, S. A., & Maguire-Jack, K. (2020). The scope, nature, and causes of child abuse and neglect. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 692(1), 26-49. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716220969642
Hupe, T. M., & Stevenson, M. C. (2019). Teachers’ intentions to report suspected child abuse: The influence of compassion fatigue. Journal of Child Custody, 16(4), 364-386. https://doi.org/10.1080/15379418.2019.1663334
Lippard, E. T., & Nemeroff, C. B. (2020). The devastating clinical consequences of child abuse and neglect: Increased disease vulnerability and poor treatment response in mood disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 177(1), 20-36. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2019.19010020
Liu, B. C., & Vaughn, M. S. (2019). Legal and policy issues from the United States and internationally about mandatory reporting of child abuse. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 64, 219-229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2019.03.007
Merrick, M. T., & Guinn, A. S. (2018). Child abuse and neglect: Breaking the intergenerational link. American Journal of Public Health, 108(9), 1117-1118. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2018.304636
Rosenthal, C. M., & Thompson, L. A. (2020). Child abuse awareness month during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. JAMA Pediatrics, 174(8), 812. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.1459
Russell, D., Higgins, D., & Posso, A. (2020). Preventing child sexual abuse: A systematic review of interventions and their efficacy in developing countries. Child Abuse & Neglect, 102, 104395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104395
Zhang, L., Simmel, C., & Nepomnyaschy, L. (2021). Income inequality and child maltreatment rates in US counties, 2009–2018. Child Abuse & Neglect, 105328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105328
