Section 1: What is child abuse?

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The Basics

What is Child Abuse?

An abused child is a girl or boy under the age of 18, who has suffered physical injury, neglect, emotional or sexual abuse.

Children may be abused in a family, or in an institution or community setting; by those known to them or more rarely, by a stranger.

Each week between one and two children die at the hands of his or her parents/carers. Between April 2005 and March 2006 the names of 317 children and young people were placed on the Child Protection Register (the register has now been changed to  the Children's Central Database and children and young people are recorded as being subject to  a child protection plan) in North Yorkshire and 73 in City of York. This means that a multi-agency group of professionals believed that these children had been abused or were at risk of abuse and needed a plan of action (Child Protection Plan) to ensure their safety and well being. In the vast majority of cases, the children remained with their families.

Each of these cases had been reported by people who were worried about a child’s welfare – this may have been a nurse, teacher, police officer, neighbour, family member or friend.

Sadly there are many more children where people have had concerns about their well-being but haven’t reported their concerns, so these children have continued to suffer abuse.

As someone who works with or comes into contact with children or with adults who are parents or carers, you are responsible for ensuring the safety and well being of children.

Who would abuse a child?

Child Abuse is a term used to describe the way that people (usually adults but sometimes other children or young people) harm children. Usually the adult is someone the child knows well such as a member of the family, neighbour or family “friend”.

There are many forms of child abuse, which can be categorised as neglect, physical abuse/injury, sexual abuse and emotional harm. Importantly, abuse can result in the child suffering significant harm and at worse, can lead to the death. In many cases, an abused child will suffer more than one type of harm, for example physical injury and emotional abuse.

Child abuse can take place anywhere where children spend time, such as at home, in nursery, at school or local youth club or online.

Abusers may be anyone:

• Any age
• Male or female (including sexual abuse)
• From any social class, culture or faith
• ‘Nice’ people
• Professionals such as teachers, religious leaders or social workers
• Related to the child
• Other children

Sources of Stress for Children and Families

Most families under great stress succeed in bringing up their children in a warm, loving and supportive environment in which each child’s needs are met. However from the available research we know that all of the below are risk factors which may increase the likelihood of abuse in children’s lives.

• Domestic abuse/violence
• Parent/carers problematic drug/alcohol abuse
• Child has previously suffered abuse
• Parents/carers highly critical of child
• Parents/carers who don’t show warmth to the child
• Parents/carers with problematic mental health problems
• Parents/carers who perceive the child to be “difficult”
• Parents/carers who have unrealistic expectations of their child
• Baby ill within first 6 months of life
• A child with disabilities
• Parents with learning difficulties
• Family breakdown

 

What are the Types of Abuse?

These categories are used for children on the Child Protection Register (register of Children Subject to a Child Protection Plan) and for statistical recording:

• Physical Abuse
• Sexual Abuse
• Neglect
• Emotional Abuse

Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child.   Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces illness in a child.

Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, including prostitution, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative (e.g. rape, buggery or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts. They may include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, pornographic material or watching sexual activities, or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways. A child should also be considered to have been the victim of sexual abuse if they have been groomed or engaged in inappropriate sexual activity or conversation over the internet, chat room or mobile phone.

Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to provide adequate food and clothing, shelter including exclusion from home or abandonment, failing to protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger, failure to ensure adequate supervision including the use of inadequate care-takers, or the failure to ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.

Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond the child’s developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying, causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, though it may occur alone.

Which Children may be Abused?

Abused children may be:

• Male or female
• Any age – including babies
• In Care
• From a ‘respectable’ home
• Physically disabled
• Academically bright
• Disabled in any way
• Challenging in their behaviour

Children often don’t tell others about the abuse because they are frightened about what may happen to them or they feel they may not be believed.  Although they want the abuse to stop they may love the abuser and don’t want him or her punished for the abuse.

Myths about Child Abuse

MYTH: Children are usually abused by strangers

FACT:  Most children are abused by someone they know and trust

 

MYTH: Women do not sexually abuse children

FACT: Although the majority of sexual abusers are male, in approximately 5 – 10% of cases, the sexual abuser is female

 

MYTH: It doesn’t happen here – this is usually relating to a neighbourhood, class, ethnic group or community.

FACT: Abuse happens anywhere, in all classes, ethnic groups, cultures, etc.

 

MYTH: Some practices are more acceptable in some cultures.

FACT: Child abuse is unacceptable in any culture.

 

MYTH: Children are prone to lie, and they will often lie about the abuse.

FACT: Children very rarely lie about abuse and often their greatest fear is that they won’t be believed. (Abusers often tell children that no one will believe them if they disclose abuse).

 

MYTH: When Children’s Services/Social Care get a referral about an abused child, he or she is usually taken into care.

FACT: Most children remain at home with their parents, with support from professionals. In most cases the best place for a child to grow up is with his or her parents

 

MYTH: People who harm children come from deprived backgrounds, are of below average intelligence or are “recognisable as dangerous” in some way

FACT: People who harm children come from all walks of life, social class and intellectual backgrounds, and may be liked and respected members of the community.

 MYTH: Disabled children are less likely to be abandoned.

FACT: Research shows that disabled children are more likely to be abused.

 

What are the effects of Child Abuse

The effects of abuse are wide ranging and usually long lasting, and can include:

• Low self esteem
• Problematic behaviours
• Educational problems, e.g. slow to develop speech
• Relationship difficulties
• Mental health problems
• Substance (drug and alcohol) abuse
• Self harm including actual or attempted suicide
• Difficulty in parenting their own children
• Permanent disability
• Death as a result of the abuse (particularly if physical abuse or neglect)
• Failure to thrive

 
Fortunately children who are abused can be helped by professionals and families working together and helping them to recover from the effects of abuse. For that to happen, people working with or in contact with children have to be aware of the signs of possible abuse and refer the child to Social Care and / or the Police.

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