Abuse Cases

CHILD ABUSE IS THE PHYSICAL SEXUAL OR EMOTIONAL MISTREATMENT OF CHILDREN

Child abuse is more than broken bones and bruises. It leaves deep emotional scars which, if remain untreated, will haunt the child for the rest of his or her adult life.

The various forms of child abuses are :

• EMOTIONAL ABUSE

Emotional abuse can include any of the following: child humiliation; name-calling; making negative comparisons to others; telling the child they are no good; frequent yelling, threatening behavior or bullying; ignoring a child as punishment; limited loving physical contact; and exposure to violence or abuse between other individuals, even within the family.

• CHILD NEGLECT

Examples of child neglect include a failure to provide all basic needs, such as food, clothing, cleanliness, schooling, supervision and a safe environment for the child to live in.

• PHYSICAL ABUSE

Physical abuse involves any form of physical harm done to a child. It can result in physical injury, brain damage, disability, as well as emotional, behavioral or educational problems. Physical punishment, even for educational purposes, constitutes physical abuse under the majority of legislation. Shaking, smacking, slapping etc., however subtle, is a form of physical abuse and can easily escalate to a more harmful form.

• SEXUAL ABUSE

Sexual abuse is a form of abuse in which an adult or another child abuses a child for sexual stimulation. Child sexual abuse does not only apply to sexual intercourse with penetration, but also includes such actions as pressing a child to engage in sexual activities (regardless of outcome), indecent exposure of sexual organs to a child, displaying pornography to a child, actual contact against a child's body, physical contact with the child's private parts or using a child to produce pornography.

Following a call for help for any type of the above-mentioned abuses will almost certainly require an immediate intervention. Childline will immediately instigate an evaluation of the case to identify the authenticity and to assess the seriousness and urgency of the situation, after which all units for child protection will be alerted to give immediate attention.

Childline will coordinate with the child’s nearest local hospital; in some cases, in very remote places. At the same time, Childline will alert the local provincial social worker from the Social Development and Human Security to make sure that the child will be kept safe from the abuser. In many cases, if the abuser comes from within the family, the child will have to be moved to government shelter until the case is reported to the police and steps are taken to remove the offender from the family home and the child can return home safely. Childline will follow up the legal procedures and advise and stay close to the family as time goes by.

These are the steps that all Childline agencies around the world follow by the letter to provide the fastest and safest protection to the child. However, in the reality of the child protection world, there are many difficulties and obstacles which demand undivided attention, such as: to ensure that complaints to the Police are accepted and registered properly; to make sure that the matter reaches the prosecutor without delay, while seeking to ensure that the child and members of the child’s family can continue to live without further fear or shame.

On most occasions, Childline will coordinate with the Legal Council of Thailand for legal aid on behalf of the injured parties as most of them are not able to deal with a complex and intricate court case matter without the guidance of a professional.

Abuse cases are usually complicated and long-drawn with physical and emotional rehabilitation of the child a first priority, along with the necessity to establish long-term security for the child.