Parental Child Abuse A Silent Crime

ISAAC PINIELO
Correspondent | Monday February 1, 2010 00:00

 

The man had, on several occasions, connived with the girl's stepmother in abusing the child until he was reported to the police by concerned neighbours who found the abuse intolarable. The man is said to have battered the child, inflicting severe injuries on her.

Many children in Botswana suffer physical abuse at the hands of their parents. The sad thing is that though such cases are common in the country, many go unreported.

Police say parental child abuse is a silent problem because people do not come forward to report . Last week, Superintendent Rodney Nkokwe of Kutlwano Police said a number of child abuse cases go undereported.

By his definition, physical child abuse is physical injury inflicted upon the child with cruel and/or malicious intent. Physical abuse can be the result of punching, beating, kicking, biting, burning, shaking, or otherwise harming a child physically.

On the other hand, psychology experts note that in some instances, the parent or caretaker who abused the child may not have intended to hurt the child, but rather the child's injury may have resulted from overly harsh discipline or physical punishment.

In this regard, some spirited debate is going on about certain forms of physical discipline such as spanking and slapping and their relationship to more orthodox forms of physical abuse.

'Spanking a child is okay, as long as it does not cause physical harm to the child,' says 34-year-old Kesutelwang Dikhukhu of Block Two.

An elder, Gadibolae Gomotsang, 70, of Matshelagabedi village, concurs that spanking a child should be in accordance with the offence committed.

For the many children, who are physically abused, by a parent or close relative, the emotional trauma remains long after the external bruises have healed.

They say children who have been abused may display a poor self- image, inability to trust or love others, aggressive, disruptive, and sometimes illegal behaviour, anger and rage, self-destructive or self-abusive behaviour, suicidal thoughts, passive, withdrawn or clingy behaviour, fear of entering into new relationships or activities, anxiety and fears, school problems or failure, feelings of sadness or other symptoms of depression, flashbacks, nightmares, drug and alcohol abuse, sleep problems, and so on.

According to the psychologists, the severe emotional damage to abused children often does not surface until adolescence or even later, when many abused children become abusive parents. An adult who was abused as a child often has trouble establishing lasting and stable personal relationships. These men and women may have trouble with physical closeness, touching, intimacy, and trust as adults. They are also at higher risk of suffering from anxiety, depression, substance abuse,  mental illness, and problems at school or work.

Early identification and treatment is important to minimise the long-term consequences of abuse. Qualified mental health professionals should conduct a comprehensive evaluation and provide treatment for children who have been abused. Through treatment, the abused child begins to regain a sense of self-confidence and trust. The family can also be helped to learn new ways of support and communicating with one another. Parents may also benefit from support, parent training and anger management.

In all kinds of child abuse, the child and the family can benefit from evaluation and treatment from a qualified mental health professional.

There is no standard definition of what constitutes child abuse, but each state has statutes that describe the forms of child abuse. Regardless of distinctions in legalistic terminology, however, experts agree that the abuse cases reported represent a small percentage of the actual number of children who are victims of severe abuse.

While it is evident that certain kinds of stress make abuse statistically more likely - poverty, job loss, marital problems, extremely young and poorly educated mothers - abuse also occurs across all economic lines and in seemingly good homes. It is however worth noting that cultures in which corporal punishment is not sanctioned have much lower rates of child abuse.

In the meantime, Superintendent Nkokwe appealed to parents to stop abusing their children emphasising the negative impact that it has on the growth of the child. He said people should report such matters to the police when they witness them, adding that whenever a child says he or she has been abused, it must be taken seriously and immediately evaluated.

He said any person who inflicts physical injury on a child, as a result of abuse, may face a charge of 'assault occasioning actual bodily harm', and if convicted he/she may be sentenced to a jail term of not more than five years with or without corporal punishment.