Child  Abuse

Table of contents:

• Introduction.
• What is Child Abuse ?.
• Physical abuse.
• Sexual abuse.
• Child Emotional Abuse.
• Child neglect.

Introduction.

Daily news paper “Awaz” Lahore  published a news that Mr. Raja Bashart, Law Minister of Punjab Government , Pakistan , told in  the Punjab Assembly session held on December 30, 2019 that 1024 cases of Child Abuse were reported and registered from September  2018  to March 2019.  152 cases of child abuse were registered  in Lahore city  (capital of Punjab province)only. It is believed that  there are more un-registered cases of child abuse for the same period  mentioned above, which were not reported for many reasons. This is an alarming situation showing the real face of our society. News papers are publishing  daily 2 to 3 cases of child abuse . We will discuss this issue in details:

What is Child Abuse ?
When  a person causes injury, death, emotional harm or risk of serious harm to a child , including maltreatment , neglect , physical abuse , sexual abuse and emotional abuse , all come under Child Abuse. Let us talk about them one by one .

1. Physical Abuse

This type  of child abuse is very common in our country. Rich people hire a child ( 10 to 14 years old) for home work on two different conditions :

1. The child come to work early morning and stay there till evening on a fixed amount per month. The child supposed to clean the house, wash clothes , go to market  to buy commodities, iron the washed clothes, take care of baby (if any), some times preparing tea and cooking is also child responsibility (if child is a girl.). The child go back home in the evening.
2. The child is hired with the condition that child will stay with the hiring family. Child work is same as above with additional work till late night. Here appears the tragedy. All people have not the same nature. There are people who treat such children as their slave.  They torture the hired child (some times very badly). A story was published in  news papers . A family hired a girl child some where in Rawalpindi District. The hired girl child was tortured very badly many times. The case was reported in police and the hiring family was summoned to appear in the court of justice. The child was physically examined and proved that girl child was tortured. This is an example of physical child abuse.

What is the Solution ?

1. There should be a written agreement between  hiring family and hired child’s parents. The agreement should include all conditions agreed upon by both parties. It is better that agreement draft should be set by Child Protection Bureau, printed and covering the responsibilities of both parties. A copy of such agreement should be deposited with Child Protection Bureau Usually the hiring family is found guilty in such child abuse cases.
2. The hiring family should be made clear that the hired child is not their slave and will not be treated as slave.
3. A staff member of Child Protection Bureau if the hired child is safe from  any harm. In case of any complaint, the hiring family should be brought to the court of justice.

2. Sexual Abuse

This type of child abuse is very  serious not only in our country but in the whole world. We read daily in news papers such child abuse stories. Such stories also telecast on almost every T.V. channel. The worst is appearing these days is that the children are killed after sexual abuse. In some cases, it is medically proved that the child was tortured or  beaten badly.

Causes of  Sexual Abuse

There are many causes of this type of child sexual abuse ;
1.  Sex provocative  material on internet:
Today is internet and mobile phone age. Almost every young person has a mobile phone One can easily find a sex provocative material on internet. This is a main cause of youth’s dissolute. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to block such material on internet. P.T.A. tried to block it, but experts are very clever. They have many ways  to unblock such restrictions.
There are some accused people who make money from it. They make videos of such activity and then  sell it to black  internet. Recently a guy was arrested who was involved in such crime. More than thousands videos were found in his computer and record.
When a young watch such sex provocative material on internet, he can not  control himself and look for some thing which is wrong.

Solution

1. Very strict punishment such as death sentence should be imposed to such criminals.
2. P.T.A. should strictly block such material on internet.
3. There should be daily program on every T.V. channel about children sexual abuse and its punishment on Judgement Day. The punishment of All-Mighty Allah’s messenger “Loot” ‘s nation should be emphasized. Loot’s nation was involved in such crimes.
4. Early marriage of young’s at the age of 18 to 20 years may help to keep them on right track.
5. Our country is an Islamic country. But we don’t obey Islamic laws. Do you know  what All-Mighty Allah has ordered and set the rules of men’s and women’s  dress:
   – Man should wear a dress which cover his navel to knee. This is the least demand. It is better,  cover whole body.
   – Male should not wear females’s dress.
   – Female’s dress should cover her whole body except her face and feet. . Female can cover her face if she likes.
   – Women dress should not be transparent, skin tight and
   glittering.
   – Women MUST cover their head and chest with a cloth sheet . Men will respect them in this dress.
   – Female should not wear male’s dress.
   I believe, if we adopt Islamic laws, a lot of bad things will be eliminated very soon.

Who is responsible ?

1. Our movies and T.V. dramas are playing a leading roles to influence women to throw away their Dopattah ( cloth sheet) from  their head and chest. Women are  becoming more bold and they call it  ” my body, my desire”. They should think that one day they will appear in front of All-Mighty Allah . There they will be questioned ” why you disobey my orders?”. Today’s wealth will not help that day.
2. Fashion shows are another source of expending immodesty. A girl wearing skin tight dress is a main cause of young’s impudence.Such dresses rouses the young to ride on a wrong horse.
3. Co-education is a mean of our moral descent.
4. Islamic Madrisas :   There are many stories that teacher of a Islamic Madrisa was found involved in children sex abuse. This is a dark side  of Madrisas and no body will  like to talk about it. To eliminate such situation, the teacher should be a married man. And should not be allowed  to stay overnight  in the Madrisa.

3. Child Emotional Abuse

Some parents shout on their children. A school teacher shout or punish a student in class room. Such attitude has very bad effects on child mind. A wrong blame, specially a theft blame is enough to destroy a child personality.

Solution :

1. Talk to the children very politely.
2. Never blame a child , specially a theft blame.
3. Do not shout at a child in front of others.
4. Encourage  them to set a “Life Goal” . Guide them to walk on the path to reach their goal.

4. Child Neglect

In some families, one child is favorite among  others. It could be natural. In such cases, other children feel that they are not being given the affection and care they deserve.This situation occurs in a second marriage of a man having children from first marriage. Tense appears between step brothers/mother and some children feel neglected. They will look to others for care and affection. They also feel insecure and this feeling disturb their mind and personality.

Solution :

1. Share your love and care to every child equally.
2. Don’t let the children think that you love  one child more
   than others.
3. Talk to them. Ask if they have any difficulty or confusion
   Play with them. Let them feel you are their friend.
4. If any one of your children becomes sick, take him/her to a doctor for medical treatment.
5. Discuss with them their class examinations . They need
   your guidance.

Children are the next generation of our nation and a balanced minded engineer will take right steps to develop a nation.