What is child abuse? 

Child abuse happens when an adult mistreats or neglects a child. The person who abuses  is misusing their position of trust and authority. This could be a parent, guardian, paid caregiver  or sibling. 

Children depend upon adults  to protect them, support them and help them survive. Being abused damages their sense of safety. It also makes them more likely to be abused and exploited  in the future. 

Child abuse is a silent crime. It can happen in all cultures, social classes, and religions.  Also, children with disabilities are more at risk for abuse. 

What forms does child abuse take? 

A child can be abused in different ways. Following are just some examples: 

Physical abuse 

Physical abuse means inflicting physical  harm on a child's body. It may involve abusing a  child a single time, or it may involve a pattern of incidents. Some examples are: 

• Shaking, choking, biting, kicking  or burning a child
• Handling a child roughly when helping them with dressing and going to the bathroom 
• Using force or restraint in any other harmful way. 

Often the parents feel they need to physically punish or discipline the child. They may also think what they are doing is good for the child. An example  of this is female genital mutilation (also known as "female circumcision"). 

Physical  abuse sometimes leaves the child with a permanent disability. For example, a child may end up deaf, become paraplegic or have brain or spinal cord injury. 

Sexual abuse 

This happens when an adult or adolescent uses a child for sexual purposes. It  can also mean exposing them to  sexual activity or behavior. It can include: 

• touching and kissing a child's breasts  or genitals 
• inviting the child to touch someone else sexually 
• having sex with a child family member 
• Forcing a child into prostitution or pornography. 

Child sexual abuse is usually repeated, and can go on  for a long time. It  is also emotionally abusive. 
Sexual abuse is against the law in Canada. Yet it is probably the  form of abuse that people report the least. 

Emotional abuse 

Emotional abuse includes other acts that can harm a child's sense of worth. It is usually part of a long-term problem. 
It harms a child's self-confidence when an adult insults, rejects or humiliates them often. Other examples of  emotional abuse include: 

• Isolating a  child - keeping them away from other children,  or removing their wheelchair  or hearing aids. 
• Intimidating or terrorizing a  child - locking children in closets  or basements, threatening  or shouting at them, making them fear the adult. 
• Exploiting a child - having them do things children don't normally do, like working when they should be in school. 
• Making unreasonable demands - telling them to play outside without getting dirty. Telling them to change their homosexual orientation if they want to stay living at home. 

Neglect 

Neglect means not giving the child what they need to develop. It can hurt the child both emotionally and physically. A parent or caregiver  is neglecting a child when they: 

• don't make them feel loved, wanted, safe and worthy 
• don't let them see  a doctor or take personal care of themselves 
• don't intervene when the  child is at risk of harm 
• deny them an education 
• deny food, clothing and shelter, even though they can afford to provide them 
• leave the child alone at home too often. Parents are responsible for watching over their children until they are at least 16. 

Witnessing woman abuse 

Seeing a woman  being abused makes children feel less worthy. It keeps them in a constant state of anxiety and fear. 

It can affect them just as badly as being abused directly. They may also be hurt trying to protect their mother,  or be used as hostages. 

When a woman is abused by her partner, her children learn that: 

• Love and pain go together 
• People use force to solve problems 
• People need to give in to keep  the peace. 

Ritual abuse 

People generally understand ritual abuse to be extreme abuse that goes on for a long time. In this case the adults use their religious  or political beliefs to defend the abuse. 

Ritual abuse often includes: 

• mind control 
• torture  
• murder  
• child pornography 
• prostitution.  

Notes: Dr. M. Kristine Schlossberg

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EditText of this page (last edited February 16, 2010)