Children are gifts from God, who bring joy to their families. But how has this bundle of joy become a loathsome creature that receives dehumanizing treatment from its parents, guardian, or caregivers?
A survey revealed that six out of 10 Nigerian children experienced at least one form of violence before they are 18. In May 2022, a public opinion poll conducted by NOI polls revealed mind-boggling statistics as 88 percent of adult Nigerians admitted the prevalence of child abuse, while 51 percent of adult Nigerians also acknowledge personally seeing undergo abusive treatment in their localities.
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, and psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver.
Babies and other young children can be affected differently by abuse than their older counterparts. Babies and preschool children who are being emotion abused or neglected may be overly affectionate towards strangers or people they have not known for long. They can lack confidence or become anxious, appear to not have a close relationship with their parent, exhibits aggressive behavior, or act nasty towards other children. Older children may use foul language or act in a markedly different way from other children of the same age.
Without a doubt, incidents of child abuse in the country have remained alarmingly high, sadly many of those who witness the act of barbarism does not report the infractions to the appropriate authorities.
The indifference shown by society in the face of the unending menace, experts maintain, is not unconnected with the poor and slow domestication of the 1989 United Nations Convention on the rights of the child as well as the 1990 Africa Charter on the right and welfare of the child.
Emediong Akpabio, a human rights and gender activist agree that the consequence of child abuse on society is multi-dimensional hence the compelling needs to abolish it.
- Iniobong Marvellous, Department of Mass communication, Kwara State University.
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