Currently, the world has been plagued with several acts of child abuse and has furthermore learned to live by it as a norm which is to be treated with levity when found guilty.
Although the four major categories which include physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse also seem to be obsolete amidst most individuals and jurisdictions whereby millions of teenagers and kids are suffering or suffered hundreds of centuries ago.
A detailed definition of child abuse is contained in section 3 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) in which most of its cases vary among very young children leaving them with long-term and permanent damage. Every form of child abuse does nothing more than to breach an individual thereby leaving different scars, affecting their mental, emotional, social, and academic life.
Nowadays, physical abuse and neglect are seen to be the most popular and aggravative forms of child abuse in several continents and countries, making the law more focused on this aspect; which in turn would make them less efficient in tackling it. Most cases discovered by the National Incidence Study (NIS) acclaim inadequate nutrition, shelter, education, health care, parental control, and other truancy as classes of physical neglect and abuse.
Constituted authorities on the other hand are expected to tame such abuse by proper examination of a foster parent before adoption, adequate provisions of necessary amenities to less privileged homes, reinstatement of the child welfare system: regular visitation, parenting education, public awareness, and also professional training for staffs to reduce suicidal cases and home accidents caused by most parents.
Legal restrictions are also meant to be issued by the law against parents throwing tantrums thereby causing domestic violence leaving several bruises and lesions on teenagers and children.
Sexual and emotional abuse has also been a very alarming abuse to the welfare of young teenagers and children, its effect runs grisly through the veins of so many abused children in the world making it a social problem!
Sexual abuse is defined by CAPTA as the employment or coercion of any child to engage in any sexually explicit conduct or stimulation for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct either through rape, molestation, or incest with children.
Emotional abuse also causes variations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system due to several criticisms, threats, and rejections caused by most parents/guardians.
The shortcoming of the law in managing these abuses is basically the development of mechanisms with public and private firms for collaboration against child maltreatment.
Also, effective interventions for parents who have psychological defects are not been monitored and taken care of by health sectors and institutes of mental health.
Finally, emergency hotlines and research funds are not well scrutinized and allocated by health agencies, government should recognize the importance of strengthening research and resources with the public, firms, and institutions so as to fight against child abuse in all ramifications in different countries and the world at large.
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