Child Abuse – What is it Really?

Primarily, child abuse and neglect is divided into several categories which include neglect, physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

Physical Abuse:  The category of child abuse that cannot be easily denied is physical abuse. When a child comes to harm with obvious physical signs like dislocations, bruises, severe psychological problems or even death which are basically the end products of actions like severe shaking, hitting, kicking etc, it is considered to be abuse. Children are considered to be tender, harmless and helpless, in other words, it is against nature and rule of law to inflict physical injuries on a child.

Child Neglect:  It is a proven fact that over 60% of American children suffer abuse in the form of neglect. What actually constitutes child neglect? A child is said to be neglected when his or her parents fail to adequately look after or provide for the child in terms of physical and emotional needs which includes but not limited to proper education, food, shelter and medical attention. Neglect is subdivided into two categories which are acute neglect and chronic neglect. A child is said to be acutely neglected when his or her parents or guardian fail at a particular time to provide the basic needs of that given child while chronic neglect is when it becomes a common and continuous trend for a particular child to be left with little or no supervision and provision of the child’s needs.

Emotional Abuse:  A child is said to be emotionally abused when the parents or a particular parent has a habit of maltreating the child in a way that diminishes that child’s self esteem, which will in turn inhibit the emotional or psychological development of such child. Lack of affection, snide remarks and needless confinement are all agents of emotional child abuse.

Sexual Abuse:  Indulging a child in any form of sexual acts like having fun with the genitals of the child or making the child to have fun with the genitals of the perpetrator, forcing a child to get involved in any form of sexual activity, offensive exposure of a child to pornography or the act of rape is considered to be sexual abuse.

How to Help an Abused Child: There are several child abuse attorneys in every State of US including California. The only and best way to help a child that is confirmed to be suffering any form of abuse is by acting immediately on that child’s behalf by reporting the matter to the appropriate authorities or organization. Your action or inaction determines if that particular child is helped or not. In most States including California, if one is found out to have known about a case of child abuse and failed to notify the appropriate authorities for immediate actions to be taken in helping that child, that person could be fined or even face a jail term as an accomplice in the abuse of a child. If you notice that a child is been unnecessarily abused, help that child by contacting the nearest child abuse attorney or firm in your location.