Child Abuse

What is Child Abuse?

Child abuse summarizes a range of behaviors directed towards both girls and boys under the age of 18. These actions are likely to develop behavioral issues in the victims. The victims in the future may suffer from guilt, low self-esteem, fear, and distrust from adults and they will gradually isolate themselves from the rest of the society. The effects are mostly long-lasting as they tend to cast gruesome impacts in the tender young minds hindering their overall development as humans. 

Indian Central Government works in association with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to prevent child abuse in the country. Also, the Juvenile Justice Act of 2015 protects minors against physical and child sexual abuse by counseling the community of Indian parents and child caregivers. 

Types of Child Abuse

Child abuse includes four basic categories: Physical, Sexual, Substance abuse, and Neglect.

Physical abuse: An action intended to hurt a young individual deliberately falls under physical child abuse. This covers activities like slapping, punching, hitting with any object, or even pinching. These actions often leave cuts, bruises, bone fractures, and internal blood clots in the minors and sometimes may lead to death. 

Sexual abuse: Unlike sexual abuse followed by physical dominance sighted against adult victims, the children are psychologically manipulated into the act by people older than their age. Young minds easily get swayed from gifts or fear when they are intimidated. 

Substance abuse: This category represents one of the most common forms of child abuse in India. Sights of alcohol intake, smoking, or sexual activity gradually tamper the innocence of minors at a much younger age. Central and state governments constantly spread awareness among parents to prevent child access to explicit content.

Neglect or Emotional abuse: Resulting from financial crunch, lack of family time, or plain personal perspective, the parents often deprive their offspring of attention, guidance, and care. The children are extremely dependent on their caregivers at such a juvenile stage. This form of child abuse includes emotional hardship that gives birth to threat and guilt, those emotions later outburst as anger.

Child Sexual Abuse

Undesired sexual activity violating minors or developmentally underprepared individuals is termed as child sexual abuse. It has turned out to be a huge problem throughout the world where perpetrators take advantage of innocent minors to convince them into shagging. This alarming yet preventable plight has been addressed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which made it clear that society should cease accusing the minor or else this will have adverse long-term impacts preventing the victim from coming up with the truth. 

Repercussions of Child Sexual Abuse 

Child sexual abuse sums up the sexual and psychological molestation of a younger or older adolescent by an offender. The adversity of such events can influence the thought process of the victim for a lifetime, having immense physical or emotional health deterioration for several months or years. 

Health parameters go through a toll by the transmission of STIs or sexually transmitted infections resulting from intercourse. Forceful actions often lead to fractures, cuts, or bruises. If the child gets hurt in the genital area he or she hesitates to disclose the truth because by that time they are doubtful of adults and guilty of not being able to protect themselves.In some cases, severe depression in victims miserably leads to suicides. Lastly, unprotected sexual intercourse might lead to pregnancy resulting in the desertion of the victim by the community. 

The severity of Child Sexual Abuse

About 52% of Indian children including both girls and boys face some sort of forced sexual affair [includes actions described under the POCSO (Protection of Child from Sexual Offences) Act] as per studies conducted by the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare in 2007. Out of the figure, 20% were severe cases that required emergency medical attention.

Though strict vigilance of law is gradually being established for girl children, reports from Delhi have been utterly shocking as they state more boys are subject to sexual harassments of forced nudity, sodomy, and gender violence than girls in nine Indian states. Thus law should act as gender neutral to annihilate the pervasive behavior of mentally crooked adults and prevent child abuse.

Conclusion

Child abuse should be tackled with severe punishment of the offenders because our society holds severe hatred for them. Child abuse in India harmful affects infants and adolescents leaving behind a trauma that can last for entire life. The children are subject to child abuse in homes, neighborhoods, schools, and boarding hostels. Willful damage often gets concealed as the child opts not to disclose. Thus parents, relatives, and brothers must be smart enough to notice the various symptoms of child abuse. This can be a change in their usual behavior, anger issues, loss of appetite, growing trust issues, and physical bruises caused by inflicted pain. From 2012 till the present the child protection policies in the country fight against the traditional parental abuse prevalent in India.