(EN) Don't let your child be another victim.

Today children are more exposed than in other times, there are many media such as the internet, social networks, in short, that is why we need to know how to protect their innocence.

Worldwide cases of abuse committed against minors are increasing alarmingly. Rare is the day that in the pages of a newspaper, in the news or on the screens of our televisions, on social networks (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google News) we do not learn of one or more cases of child abuse. Some of them truly horrifying, such as the recent repeated murders of poor children and vagrants in some of the largest cities.

Child abuse is not something confined to a single country. It is a universal tragedy, and it is not something new either. It has been around forever. Precisely one of the great social achievements of which humanity can be proud are the labor laws that, since the middle of the last century and the beginning of this one, through which measures began to be adopted to regulate and limit the work of minors in industry, commerce and agriculture.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has been working for years, increasingly intense and widespread, in defense of children around the world, and many other international, national and local organizations are engaged in the same mission.

The ideal of ensuring child welfare also has a long tradition in all our towns in Latin America.

There has always been, therefore, in all spheres of society and in all countries, a deep concern to protect children against all kinds of abuse, but now that awareness is becoming much more vibrant and dynamic, in view of what There seems to be a growing tendency to mistreat children, despite all the existing laws for their protection.

What is Child Abuse?

We all know that abuse and mistreatment against children and adolescents can take many forms, from simple humiliating, offensive and sarcastic scoldings, which make the child lose his self-esteem and form the negative image that he is a "bad child", that is useless, does nothing right, and excessive or cruel corporal punishment, even crimes against the life of a minor, including kidnapping for ransom, inducing minors, for profit, to addicted to alcohol or drugs, or to participating in pornographic activities.

The catalog, of course, does not end there. There is also child abuse by omission, not just by action. For example, when a child is not fed and clothed properly (there are financial means to do so), when he is not given the medical care he needs (including preventive care), or when he is abandoned to his fate or it is read, neglected in any way, or kept in conditions that lack the most elementary hygiene.

A very common case, and one that is also on the rise, is that of divorced or separated parents who evade the payment of child support that they must pay to their children. These parents may not judge themselves guilty of child abuse, but they certainly are.

The Department of Health and Rehabilitation Services of the State of Florida (USA) has developed a definition of child abuse that, although it may not cover all cases, is quite complete. According to this definition, there is abuse in cases of non-accidental physical injury caused to the minor; sexual assault; financial or sexual exploitation, or injury to intellectual and psychological capacity". And the definition adds that there is also abandonment or neglect when the parents, or the responsible persons, do not provide the minor with adequate food, clothing or shelter, health care or the necessary supervision to avoid dangers.

The facts amply demonstrate that parents are not the only people who can engage in child abuse. It is also committed by guardians, foster parents, teachers, daycare providers, nannies, family members or friends, and of course strangers. And it must be noted, sadly, that in recent years there has also been an increase in cases of sexual abuse against minors, committed by religious ministers.

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse is usually the easiest to spot. However, as corporal punishment is still widely accepted in our culture, it is not always easy to draw the line between a rational, merely disciplinary measure and a true case of abuse.

If the minor has been injured, this may be the product of an isolated episode, or also the consequence of repeated or habitual ill-treatment. Injuries can also vary from the most insignificant to the most serious, even fatal.

Experts are inclined to believe that any injury to a minor, if it requires medical attention, constitutes abuse and goes far beyond the bounds of reasonable, prudent and moderate corporal punishment. And they also consider that injuries caused with a clenched fist or with any instrument, kicks, burns and the fact of physically throwing the child against the floor or the wall, always constitute abuse, even when the injuries resulting from these actions have been minimal, and even if no injury has occurred. (Of course, the legal definition of child abuse can vary greatly from country to country, and even the criminal laws of various countries define child abuse in general and sexual abuse specifically as two distinct and separate types of crime.)

Sexual Abuse

While any form of child abuse is disgusting, probably the most repellent thing among them all is sexual abuse. It is something that the public conscience and the individual conscience tend to strongly reject. It is even known that in the penal population of the prisons, among the most hardened criminals, there is a manifest rejection towards the prisoners when their fellow inmates discover that they are there for having sexually abused a minor. It is not uncommon that, in prisons, those guilty of these crimes often have to be isolated so that they do not fall victim to the fury of other prisoners.

Sexual abuse, like other types of child abuse, also has many variants. It can be violent or non-violent and, in many cases, does not even necessarily imply that there was physical contact between the adult offender and the minor who is his victim. (We must clarify that the offender is not always an adult. There are also many cases in which adolescents and young people, under the age of 18, sexually abuse children and youngsters of minor age).

There is sexual abuse, for example, when the offender exhibits himself in an indecent or libidinous way before a minor, or masturbates before him, or convinces the minor, even without exercising any type of physical violence, to undress or expose his parts. private, or when the offender takes pornographic photos of the minor, either for his own perverted pleasure or to trade them, selling them to others.

There may be physical sexual abuse, but not violent, when the offender is limited to touching or caressing sexually, without aggressiveness or force of any kind. And there can be violent sexual abuse in cases of abduction, rape, sodomy or oral sex, even when there is apparent consent on the part of the minor.

Unlike non-sexual physical abuse, specifically sexual abuse is often very difficult to uncover. The offender can use gifts, promises, threats or any kind of lie and explanation to make the minor keep quiet about what happened. And the same child, if he feels guilty for having done "something wrong", if he feels ashamed, or if he fears the possibility of a strong punishment, many times he chooses to remain silent, even without the offender having threatened him.

Sometimes the offender manages to persuade the child that sexual activity is a way of expressing the affection that unites them. This frequently occurs in cases of incest, which are more common than the general population suspects.

Few children reveal that one of their parents or another close relative has performed sexual acts with them, especially if the child is under the impression that he himself has provoked the situation.

Although it is impossible to compile reliable statistics about incest, since many cases never come to the attention of the authorities, experts agree that the most widespread cases, although they are not the only ones, are those that involve a father and his daughter ( including stepfather and stepdaughter cases). There are also known cases in which an adult in the family has become sexually involved with two or more minors in the same house, and there are also cases in which the offending parent or relative, once the minor grows up or moves from the house, ends up leaving him alone, but only to replace him with the next-in-age little sister or brother of his first victim.

In fact, there can be incest in a family for a long time before it is discovered what is going on. As a rule, incest is not accompanied by physical violence, but rather by insidious persuasion very skilfully exercised by the offender.

We must be very alert, many times the aggressor is a person known to the child, so they trust. There are many forms of abuse against minors but the most terrible of all is sexual.

I hope the information is useful, we will continue talking in the next post. Greetings