Signs to know a child is suffering from abuse

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention defines Child Abuse as “child maltreatment and any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child”.
Child Abuse is any mistreatment of a child either physically, emotionally or sexually. It could include neglect of such child.

Aside the physical, emotional and sexual abuse, other types of child abuse common in Nigeria are child marriage, child labour and child trafficking.
It is worthy to know that abuse of a child can happen anywhere – at home, school, community or any other environment the child finds himself or herself. It can also happen at any time and make the child become a shadow of himself or herself.
Although sexual child abuse is more common in female children, male children are also exposed to abuse from other females including aunties, older cousins, house helps or even senior students in the schools.
If sexual abuse happens, how can society help the victimised child?
According to the Executive Director of Child Emergency Relief Foundation, Mrs. Abosede Oyeleye, “the first step to helping an abused child is to recognize the signs.”
What are the signs to watch out for?
When a child unusually begins to get to school early, his teachers are impressed and they think it is a sign of the child moving forward.
Unfortunately, this could be a sign of a child suffering from abuse. School closes; the child stays back and is not eager to return home.
In school and other environments, the child appears to be withdrawn, passive and overly compliant to rules and regulations, which is unusual for children.
The child has problems focusing and learning which is not as a result of any physical or psychological cause. As a result of this, the child’s school performance deteriorates because he or she is dealing with something that is not very obvious.
A psychological effect of abuse on a child is the permanent fear alert. He is in a constant state of being scared and expecting some unpleasant event to happen.
An abused child develops an inferiority complex and refuses to trust people who are willing to render help and assistance. The child, unlike most other children becomes less prone to collecting candies and biscuits from people.
Generally, a child’s behaviour changes and adults around think that he or she has turned a new leaf and become a better child who is less troublesome and less hyperactive.
Eventually, an individual who suffered sexual abuse as a child may end up having issues with his or her sexuality. They may thus become homosexuals who have lost faith in the opposite sex.
Oyeleye believes that: “if just one sign is identified, this does not mean abuse has been occurring. Some children may appear to display more than one sign and has not been abused.”
How to help a child that has been abused
There are various ways an abused child can be rescued or saved from further abuse. They include:
Helping the child through the healing process until he is able to independently get over the trauma and confidently talk about it.
Never blame a child who has been victimised by calling them ridiculous names.
Never make the child feel like he or she is of no value.
Helping such child to regain her confidence by taking her to a crisis centre where she can undergo psychological therapy to heal her wounded individuality and self esteem.
If you notice a child has been abused and you get him or her to open up to you based on grounds of trust, don’t betray his trust.
When talking with an abused child, the best thing you can provide is calm reassurance and unconditional support. Let your actions speak for you. If you’re having trouble finding the right words, remember that talking about the situation may be difficult for the child. Thus, it is the job of the counsellor and confidant to assure the child of a bright future.
Do not probe or interrogate the victim. Reassure the child that they did nothing wrong.
One of such numerous ways is special support and treatment as early as possible. Listen to everything including nonsense that such child has to say once he makes up his mind to talk to you. This will make him/her more comfortable and getting over the incident will be a lot easier.
Safety of the counsellor, the victim and the victim’s family must also be put into consideration. If there is a problem with security, the healing process should be left to professionals to handle (professionals include non-governmental organizations that are experienced in handling such cases, the police and other law enforcement agents). Such cases could be reported to them and they can take over the situation from where it becomes dangerous.
Abuse is more than bruises or broken bones, it needs to be handled with lot of care and the earlier the victim gets help the greater chance they have to heal.
No matter the age, an abused child never forgets the unpleasant incident even after he/she heals.

Culled from The Nation, Sunday, April 06, 2014