Child abuse. How can I find out about child abuse? Children with visual vector
Physical violence- infliction of physical injuries, various bodily injuries to a child by parents or persons replacing them, educators or any other persons that cause damage to the health of the child, disrupt his development and take his life. These actions can be carried out in the form of beating, torturing, shaking, in the form of blows, slaps, cauterization with hot objects, liquids, lit cigarettes, in the form of bites, and using a variety of objects as tools of fanaticism.
Physical abuse also includes involving a child in the use of drugs, alcohol, giving him poisonous substances or " medical preparations, causing intoxication (for example, sleeping pills not prescribed by a doctor), as well as attempts to suffocate or drown a child.
In some families, various types of physical punishment are used as disciplinary measures - from cuffs and slaps to spanking with a belt. It is necessary to realize that physical violence is really a physical attack (torture), it is almost always accompanied by verbal abuse and mental trauma.
Sexual abuse or seduction- the use of a child (boy or girl) by an adult or another child to satisfy sexual needs or obtain benefits. Sexual abuse includes sexual intercourse (coitus), oral and anal sex, mutual masturbation, and other bodily contact with the genitals. Sexual corruption also includes the involvement of a child in prostitution, the porn business, the exposure of the genitals and buttocks in front of the child, peeping at him when he does not suspect it: during undressing, the administration of natural needs.
Mental (emotional) abuse- constant or periodic verbal abuse of the child, threats from parents, guardians, teachers, educators, humiliation of his human dignity, blaming him for what he is not guilty of, demonstrating dislike, hostility towards the child. This type of violence also includes constant lies, deceit of the child (as a result of which he loses trust in an adult), as well as demands placed on the child that do not correspond to his age capabilities.
Neglect of the interests and needs of the child- lack of proper provision of the basic needs and needs of the child in food, clothing, housing, upbringing, education, medical care on the part of parents or persons replacing them, due to objective reasons (poverty, mental illness, inexperience) and without them. A typical example of neglect of children is leaving them unattended, which "leads to accidents, poisoning and other consequences that are dangerous to the life and health of the child.
One of the manifestations of child abuse is woman's lack of love for a child when he is still in the mother's womb, that is, to a child from an unwanted pregnancy. He, who has not yet shown himself in any way, is no longer loved, they do not think and do not care about him. Being emotionally rejected even before birth, such children are born ahead of time twice as often compared to children from a desired pregnancy, they often have low body weight, get sick more often in the first months of life, and develop worse.
Any kind of child abuse leads to a wide variety of consequences, but they all have one thing in common - damage to the child's health or danger to his life. Negative health effects are: loss or deterioration of the function of any organ, the development of a disease, a violation of physical or mental development. Out of 100 cases of physical abuse of children, approximately 1-2 end in the death of the victim of abuse. The consequences of physical violence are bruises, injuries, fractures, injuries internal organs: liver, spleen, kidneys, etc. It takes time to heal these injuries, but even more time and effort is required to heal the spiritual wounds, the psyche of a child who has suffered from beatings.
Distinguish immediate and long-term consequences of ill-treatment and neglect of children.
The immediate consequences are physical injuries, injuries, as well as vomiting, headaches, loss of consciousness, characteristic of concussion syndrome, which develops in young children who are taken by the shoulders and shaken violently. In addition to these signs, in children with this syndrome, hemorrhage in the eyeballs appears. The immediate consequences also include acute mental disorders in response to any kind of aggression, especially sexual. These reactions can manifest themselves in the form of excitement, the desire to run somewhere, hide, or in the form of deep inhibition, external indifference. In both cases, however, the child is seized with the most acute experience of fear, anxiety, and anger. Older children may develop severe depression with a sense of their own inferiority, inferiority.
Among the long-term effects abuse of children, violations of the physical and mental development of the child, various somatic diseases, personal and emotional disorders, and social consequences are distinguished.
Disorders of physical and mental development
Most children living in families in which severe physical punishment, scolding the child are "methods of education", or in families where they are deprived of warmth, attention, for example, in families of alcoholic parents, there are signs of a delay in physical and nervous mental development. Foreign experts called this condition of children "inability to flourish."
Abused children often lag behind their peers in height, weight, or both. They begin to walk, talk later, laugh less often, they do much worse at school than their peers. These children often have "bad habits": thumb sucking, nail biting, rocking, masturbation. And outwardly, children living in conditions of neglect of their interests, physical and emotional needs, look different than children living in normal conditions: they have swollen, "sleepy" eyes, a pale face, disheveled hair, untidiness in clothes, etc. signs of hygienic neglect - pediculosis, rashes, bad smell from clothes and body.
Various diseases as a result of abuse
Diseases can be specific to a particular type of violence: for example, during physical violence, there are injuries to parts of the body and internal organs of varying severity, bone fractures. With sexual violence, there may be sexually transmitted diseases: infectious and inflammatory diseases of the genitals, syphilis, gonorrhea, AIDS, acute and chronic infections urinary tract, trauma, bleeding from the genitals and rectum, ruptures of the rectum and vagina, prolapse of the rectum.
Regardless of the type and nature of violence, children may experience various diseases, which are psychosomatic: obesity or, conversely, a sharp weight loss, due to impaired appetite. With emotional (mental) violence, there are often skin rashes, allergic pathology, stomach ulcers, with sexual violence - inexplicable (if no diseases of the abdominal cavity and small pelvis are detected) pain in the lower abdomen. Often, children develop such neuropsychiatric diseases as tics, stuttering, enuresis (urinary incontinence), encopresis (fecal incontinence), some children are re-admitted to the emergency department for accidental injuries, poisoning.
Mental characteristics of children affected by violence
Almost all children who have suffered from abuse and neglect have experienced psychological trauma, as a result of which they develop further with certain personal, emotional and behavioral characteristics that negatively affect their future life.
Children who have been subjected to various kinds of violence themselves experience anger, which is most often poured out on weaker children: younger children, animals. Often their aggressiveness is manifested in the game, sometimes their outbursts of anger have no apparent reason.
Some of them, on the contrary, are overly passive, unable to defend themselves. In both cases, contact, communication with peers is disrupted. In abandoned, emotionally deprived children, the desire to attract attention by any means sometimes manifests itself in the form of defiant, eccentric behavior.
Child survivors of sexual abuse acquire age-appropriate knowledge about sexual relationships, which is manifested in their behavior, in games with other children or with toys. Even young children who have not reached school age and are victims of sexual violence can subsequently become the initiators of sexual abuse and involve a large number of participants in them.
The most universal and severe reaction to any, and not just sexual violence, is low self-esteem, which contributes to the preservation and consolidation of psychological disorders associated with violence. A person with low self-esteem experiences feelings of guilt, shame. that "you are the worst." As a result, it is difficult for a child to achieve the respect of others, success, communication with peers is difficult.
Among these children, even in adulthood, there is a high frequency of depression. This is manifested in bouts of anxiety, unaccountable melancholy, a feeling of loneliness, and sleep disturbances. At an older age, adolescents may experience suicide attempts or completed suicides.
Feeling unhappy, destitute, adapting to abnormal conditions of existence, trying to find a way out of the situation, they themselves can become blackmailers. This, in particular, applies to sexual violence, when in exchange for a promise to keep a secret and not break the habitual family life, children extort money, sweets, gifts from adult rapists.
Social Consequences of Child Abuse
Two aspects of these consequences can be distinguished simultaneously: harm to the victim and harm to society.
Children who have experienced any kind of violence experience difficulties in socialization: they have broken connections with adults, do not have the appropriate communication skills with peers, they do not have sufficient knowledge and erudition to gain authority in school, etc. Solving their problems children - victims of violence - are often found in a criminal, asocial environment, and this is often associated with the formation of their addiction to alcohol, drugs, they begin to steal and commit other criminally punishable acts.
Girls often begin to engage in prostitution, boys may have a sexual orientation. Both of them subsequently experience difficulties in creating their own family, they cannot give their children enough warmth, because their own emotional problems have not been resolved.
As mentioned above, any kind of violence forms in children and adolescents such personal and behavioral characteristics that make them unattractive and even dangerous to society.
What are the societal costs of child abuse? First of all, this is the loss of human lives as a result of the murders of children and adolescents or their suicides, these are losses in their person as productive members of society due to a violation of their mental and physical health, low educational and professional level, and criminal behavior. These are losses in the face of parents who are able to raise physically and morally healthy children. Finally, it is the reproduction of cruelty in society, since former victims often become rapists themselves. (From the article "Child Abuse and Its Consequences").
This information should be known to adults and children.
American specialists, employees of the American non-profit organization "Project Harmony", who in 1998 conducted a study on the territory of the Republic of Karelia as part of the Prevention of Domestic Violence project, defined the concepts of "violence" and "child abuse" as follows:
Over a child committed violence, if:
They tortured him
He was beaten
His health was damaged
Violated his sexual inviolability and sexual freedom.
A child has been bullied if:
He was instilled with fear through actions, gestures, looks,
Used to intimidate their height, age,
They shouted at him
Threatened with violence towards others (parents of the child, friends, animals, etc.).
To abuse also includes the use of the power of public institutions:
religious organization,
militia,
Special schools for children
relatives,
A child is abused if they use insulation:
Control his access to communication with peers, adults, brothers and
Sisters, parents, grandparents
The child is also subjected to emotional abuse, if:
Degrade his dignity
Use offensive nicknames
Use him as a confidant
When communicating with a child, they show inconsistency,
The child is ashamed
Use the child as a transmitter of information to another parent (adult)
Over a child committed economic violence, if:
His basic needs are not met, his behavior is controlled with the help of money.
Adults spend family money.
The child is used as a means of economic bargaining in divorce.
A child is treated cruelly if threats are used:
Threats to leave him (and in the orphanage - to exclude and transfer to another institution),
Threats of suicide, physical harm to yourself or relatives.
Adults treat the child brutally, if:
Use your privileges:
They treat the child like a servant, a subordinate,
They refuse to inform the child about decisions that relate directly to him, his fate:
About visits by his parents, guardians,
The child is interrupted during conversations.
From an article by T.Ya. Safonova, E.I. Tsymbal
"Ill-treatment with children and its consequences" / Ill-treatment with children: essence, causes, social and legal protection. M., 1993
(available to unregistered users)
The stories of former pupils of the St. Petersburg orphanage, who have been sexually abused by adults for a long time, continue to acquire new colors and details. And the worst thing about these stories is their age. Only after twelve years the victim of violence was able to complain about the offender, only after a long period of time the child subjected to such a test can talk about it at all. According to the psychologist, up to 90% of child victims of sexual violence are not able to tell adults about what happened. Meanwhile, such crimes happen quite often in St. Petersburg.
Little victims of unhealthy adult fantasies
One of the most high-profile stories of violence against St. Petersburg children came out in 2014. And it started even earlier - in 2010. Then, on the eve of the summer holidays, a St. Petersburg woman with many children posted an ad on the Internet with a request to provide her and her five children with a cottage for summer holidays. A married couple from Moscow, Pavel Vasyagin and Tatyana Shmekanovskaya, responded to the mother's request.
Young people introduced themselves as volunteers and happily rented a cottage for a mother of many children for the whole summer. But this help was not enough for them, and the couple announced that they would take the children to their place for the weekend. "Moscow weekend" lasted all summer, and when the summer season ended, Vasyagin and Shmekanovskaya decided to continue their charitable work.
Muscovites took three older children to their place for the weekend - a five-year-old girl, a nine-year-old boy, and a sixteen-year-old girl (the age was given at the time of the opening of the crime) - for four years. However, in 2014, the eldest girl could not stand it and told her mother about sexual violence and various perversions that children suffered from a couple of "kind" Muscovites all this time.
The mother turned to the investigators. A criminal case was initiated, and a year later, when prolonged abuse of children was confirmed, the "volunteers" from Moscow received the corresponding term - 33 years for two. Vasyagin was sentenced to 20 years without admitting his guilt, and his wife, who also took part in orgies with minors, received 13 years.
However, it happens that the danger lies in wait for the child much closer. So, quite recently - in early April - the Krasnogvardeisky Court of St. Petersburg arrested a 47-year-old coach of a children's football team. A man in sexual violence against pupils. According to the investigation, during the training camp in Belarus, the coach abused two boys who were not even 12 years old.
But the worst case is when violence reigns in the family. There are many such cases, but children almost never tell their “worst secret”. Sometimes - because they are ashamed, sometimes - because they do not even understand what adults are doing to them.
A year ago, in March 2016, in the city of Pikalevo, there was a suspect in sexual abuse of his own 8-month-old daughter. The girl was hospitalized with numerous abrasions and edema. And in November of the same 2016, a Petersburger turned to the Investigative Committee with a statement about her own husband - the woman found out that she was her.
Psychologist's advice: listen, understand, help and teach
The scariest thing about all stories of child and teen sexual abuse is the victim's endless weakness and inability to not only stand up for themselves but, more often than not, just ask for help and tell anyone about what is happening. According to Irina Logutenkova, a psychologist at the All-Russian Psychological Service, sexual violence is a deeply taboo topic for children in our society. And if the violence comes from close relatives, the topic becomes doubly taboo.
Children, for the most part, are afraid to talk about it, says the psychologist. - This topic is associated with a great sense of shame. First of all, children worry that "they won't understand me," and secondly, that "they won't believe me."
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