Despite the
great advances that we have experienced in the area of human rights, there are
still innumerable cases of child abuse in our society. This reality is quite
regrettable, and is part of all countries, regardless of their level of
development, culture and social status. The child is a helpless and innocent
being, and is exposed to all kinds of situations that threaten his physical and
mental health, and that leads us to ask: What impact does the abuse have on a
child?
According
to statistical data provided by UNICEF, 6 out of every 10 children in the world
between the ages of 2 and 14 suffer daily physical abuse, causes that can carry
out the child abuse are multiple, the investigators describe it as a
multifactorial and multidisciplinary problem, a very important point that we
must take into account is the personality or psychological model, since the
presence of mental illness or psychological disorder syndrome, adults can
damage the physical or emotional aspect of the child.
In the same
way, different situations can lead an individual to do acts of such magnitude, among
these situations, we can mention the economic aspect, since unemployment brings
parents to retaliate their frustrations with their children, and we also have
the cultural aspect, since society has developed a culture of punishment, the
father is considered the maximum authority in the family.
As a
result, it is common to see that the child has nightmares, sleep disturbances,
changes in eating habits, delays in psychomotor development or loss of
cleanliness. In addition, abused children don’t have positive beliefs about
themselves (low self-esteem) and about the world around them. In general, they
are less able to recognize or react in the face of the discomfort of others.
Beyond
psychological disorders, research conducted in the United States has shown that
corporal punishment can cause changes in the brain. In this way, children
beaten or mistreated from early ages to more than five years may have a lower
IQ, and when violence occurs in adolescents, they tend to flee their homes,
attack themselves, and generally they have low academic and professional
performance.
In general,
the prevention of child abuse, from a global perspective, is the task of
governments which must establish programs of assistance, education and support
for families. This can be achieved through the formation of support groups that
inform and educate parents, so that they have better skills to raise their
children adopting positive strategies and adopting policies that help prevent
unwanted pregnancies.
As a conclusion, it can be emphasized that child abuse is an alarming problem, and
this is happening all over the world. Therefore, it is the duty of the
countries in general to start developing programs and projects in order to
eradicate this situation. What we can do to help in order to prevent child
abuse is to adequately inform us, know how to act, and where to go if we know a
case of abuse.
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