eCAMPAIGN: What YOU Need to Know About Child Abuse!

Ways in which a child can be abused

Written by Anna Thor (Communications Officer)
Published August 2, 2008

Pascal, Senior Social Worker at Mkombozi Arusha, is concerned about the direction that child abuse in Tanzania has taken. He feels that there is a great lack of awareness around the true nature of violence against children, and that many people don't see their harmful actions as violence. What some don't know, he says, is that there are many ways in which a child can be abused other than being physically harmed.

The "World Report on Violence Against Children" (Pinheiro 2006) - a book published by the United Nations - provides a detailed account of the nature of child abuse globally. The report identifies the following forms of violence against children: physical violence, neglect, sexual violence, harmful traditional practices and psychological violence.

Physical violence can can be divided into murder and non-fatal physical violence - both by which an adult physically hurts a child. According to Pascal, physical violence is very prevalent in our country. "Beating a child is a common problem here, especially by using a stick," he says. "This behaviour was inherited from our grandfathers and the grandfathers before them." Pascal thinks that the stick has become like a part of the culture of Tanzania; he sees it wherever he goes. It is an instrument which is used to mold the behaviour of a child, but unfortunately people are not consciously aware of the harmful effects of using it. "The stick exists everywhere today, it is there in every community."

Sexual violence, by definition, takes place in any context where any person engages in sexual acts with a child. Pascal confirms that sexual abuse exists in our communities. "It's there, but it's not so visible, and often it takes time for it to be discovered." The problem, in his experience, is that, due to the secrecy of the act, people don't report it when it happens and therefore no actions are taken against it. "A person is not supposed to expose such things in this culture."

The World Report on Violence Against Children tell us that psychological violence can be a consequence of other forms of violence, or "take the form of name-calling, ignoring, isolation, rejection, threats, emotional indifference and belittlement - all can be detrimental to a child's psychological development and well-being". Pascal says that there is verbal abuse everywhere. "It has become like our culture, and people don't even see it anymore. For example, says Pascal, "Sometimes I hear parents calling their children dogs. This is abuse!" He says that people are not consciously aware that words can hurt as badly as beatings, and that calling a child a dog hurts their feelings.

Neglect is a form of abuse by which parents or caretakers fail to meet the physical and emotional needs of a child, and by which they fail to protect the child from other forms of violence, even though they have the means and ability to do so.

Lastly, according to the report, harmful traditional practices is a term mostly used to refer to female genital mutilation (FGM), but also to other "cultural traditions which inflict pain and disfigurement on children". "There are many kinds of abuse beyond beating", says Pascal. "For example, there are some people who hang the child by the feet from the kitchen ceiling to make them inhale the smoke from the fire! Some parents even burn their children if they make a mistake. But the problem is, he explains, that people don't see it as a crime."

The full range of violence against children needs to become visible in order for us to understand what is happening to our children. There is a high prevalence of abuse in Tanzania which is simply not perceived as abuse by the general public. We would like to clarify that all actions or words which harm a child are in fact violence. Read our coming articles and learn that abuse means so much more than just physical injuries. The nature of abuse can be physical, psychological, sexual or emotional. Just like Pascal, we see it everywhere - in our communities and in our homes.

Mkombozi's call for action: Have a look at what abuse really is. Understand it. Reject it.
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