John is a smart, brown-eyed boy, slightly tall and dark thick hair like the mist of Indian embroidered in beauty somewhat as the Greek god Adonis whom Aphrodite couldn’t get over. As a child, he was that type of baby everyone wanted to kiss and hold in their hands. He is now 11 years and still radiates the beauty and glow of a baby except for the way he paraded on foot. There is an unusual limping related to his style, at first you will believe it is a voguish manner associated to prepubescent children of his era but a deeper look, you will be forced to question his faltering walk.
Two years before now, uncle didn’t realize he was but a child, uncle made him watch pornography, uncle used him to demonstrate what he watched, and one day uncle twisted him backward and did the abominable. He committed the sin against life and human nature as he inserted him with his fist. There were complications after, he passed out and almost died, Uncle fled! John’s life never remained the same.
Child maltreatment is a horrid act which includes all sort and forms of physical and emotional ill-treatment of children, it could be in forms of sexual abuse, violence against children, commercial exploitation of children and even neglect. Anything that results in potential harm of children and hinders their development and dignity is Child Maltreatment.
Child Sexual Abuse involves an adult or older adolescent forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities irrespective of the awareness of the child to what is happening. The activities could include penetrative or non-penetrative acts. It could linger from rape, buggery or oral sex to watching sexual activities, sexual online images or even encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways. Under the United Nations Convention of the Child (UNCRC), every person under the age of 18 years is regarded as a child because of their immaturity and under development.
Worldwide, around 15 million adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 have experienced rape and sexual violence in their lifetime. Boys are also at risk, although a global estimate is unavailable.¹ Through the 20th and 21st century, there has been a high rise in the cases of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests, nuns, and members of the religious authority. Last weekend, the Pope Francis summoned more than 190 church leaders and officials to the Vatican for a 4-day summit which aimed at dealing with the crisis of pedophile priests and most importantly to bolster child protection across the world. The Catholic Church has been long accused of ignoring these allegations and not acting properly to deal with this polemic. Pope Francis during this summit compared sexual abuse to human sacrifice because these acts condemn the victim to a life of misery if they survive not committing suicide.
In Africa, just like in other parts of the world, child maltreatment has always existed mainly as a result of persistent poverty on the continent. Parents give up their children to early hawking, working as maids or even early prostitution to make ends meets. Some children experience violence and mistreatment as a result of certain local believes and practices relating the children to witchcraft. Abuse, sadly is a daily reality for children in Africa as just a few of them really receive help or share their ill experiences with parents. In Nigeria for example, six out of every 10 children have experienced some form of violence and one in every four girls have been victims of sexual violence.²
Children who have experienced mistreatment or sexual violence end up as traumatized adults and some of them, are deemed to dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder all their life. John might grow up into a sad adult who will dawdle in years of contempt and hatred. John might grow up to become a successful voice against child maltreatment and sexual abuse but in any case, he will still tell the humiliating story. Nothing justifies child sexual abuse, assaults or maltreatment. Children should be allowed to be children and be protected from predatory adults.
*John is a case study
1. UNICEF REPORT https://www.unicef.org/publications/files/A_Statistical_Snapshot_of_Violence_Against_Adolescent_Girls.pdf
2. UNICEF REPORT ON CHILD PROTECTION IN NIGERIA
15 comments
For long, I have often said this,
Mothers should lay lot of emphasis on values of a female to male kids as they grow up.
Some boys grew up seeing their mothers being maltreated by their fathers and they think that is the right thing to do..
It hurts my soul to see a man hit a woman, not to talk of rape and all..
Look at the case of R. kelly, its so painful..
Women also need to dress properly, men have dog-tendencies honestly speaking..
I know women will say they have right to wear what they want but then, this reason is forgotten by men when they want to rape ladies..
Its alarming the rate of reported rape and abuse here in Southern Africa.
Underage girls, its hurts the soul, some never recover from the shock and are destroyed forever.
Uhhmm….i don’t think it is okay to bring up ‘women need to dress properly’ in the discourse of rape and abuse. It’s like making up an excuse for an evil doer.
Yes to modest dressing but immodest dressing is not a justification for rape.
Sexual abusers are evil people who don’t belong among us. They should be locked up forever.
Let’s not forget we also have female sex predators.
Very correct Temi..
I agree with you 100percent..
I just observed in the part of the world where they dress properly, we hardly hear of rape cases…
Oba.
Insightful article with alarming statistics. Very heartbreaking that children have to go through such evil. I agree with you, poverty makes children more vulnerable to abuse. As a mom, I pray daily that my child will not be molested or abused in any form. It may sound funny but my son will start self defense classes as soon as possible.
I enjoy reading your articles. Keep up the great work!
Thank you very much for reading! “Self defense classes as soon as possible” got me smiling because parents cannot linger over their children at all time. They need to develop and discover their own identity so a Karate initiation at a young age isn’t a bad idea.
Parents need to start training children irrespective of their sex to be better people..saying women need to dress properly is unacceptable cause it justifies the perverse mindset of these (men) cause even in countries where women are all covered there are high rape cases. And come to think about it how provocatively can a female child be dressed that would give the urge???
Hello ma, thank you very much for reading. We also believe that children : boy and girls should be trained properly irrespective of their biological features, they are first humans before being a boy or a girl. Also to answer your question, a female or male child should not give an adult an urge, it is madness and pedophilia!!
Who can be blamed for this wicked and evil act?
All we need is more teachings on sex education cos these evil doers are everywhere and lots of them do these successfully leaving the victims in pains, shame and even emotional disorder.
Our parents, schools, religious organizations needs to be encouraged to teach their members more on the effects of Child Abuse.
Hello ma, thank you very much for reading and your contribution. Yes, I agree that there should be more sensitization on sex-related matters but it’s quite sad because these predators are quite aware of the danger that comes with their acts. And they still choose to do harm our little ones.
Beautiful illustration, poverty, lack of sexual education, those are true, but what about strong implementation of laws, I believe countries with high stats of poverty would know that poverty is a risk factor, and need effective screening techniques to prevent this evil act by implementing and enforcing brutal laws on those caught.
Because we’ll always have poverty and those that are weak.
Hi, thank you very much for reading and your contribution. You are totally correct, countries that have right laws and make reforms from time to time have less risk. But the polemic still exists irrespective of the country, what do you think may be the best way to eradicate these monsters?
Looking at the age of those molested, even sexual education cannot save them. Their voice is not loud enough, their strength is not strong enough. Child protection must also be each country’s duty, just the way an ATM is being protected even in the dark, kids also needs to be protected from their families. Guidelines of children rights attached with reeducation must be implemented and followed with utmost attention.
Wow! I like the idea of protecting children like our ATM cards but don’t you think it will be intrusive to their growth and development? You know
Even when we want to over secure children, they end up Dull. I believe implementing the right laws and introducing more difficult judgments could help curb the act.
Parents need to be more vigilant and protective of their children and there should more teaching on sex education
Hello ma, thank you very much for your contribution. Yes, in our type of society, sex education must not be overlooked!