SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN [Archives:1998/34/Health]

By:
Ms. Waffa Alawi Nasser,
Yemen Times.
Introduction:
To abuse somebody is a crime, whether they be young or old. Abuse is common around the world, yet it’s still kept a secret in more ways than many. There is physical abuse and mental abuse, also harassment in general.
What about child abuse? It is very common yet there is no remedy for this form of evil doing. This is often referred to as “child molesting.” More times than many, the actual abusers are never found out.
Millions of young children face this hideous crime everyday, yet they’re kept silent. We’ve all suffered various degrees of abuse at one point in our lives, whether mentally or physically. Nobody has ever lived a perfect life.
Some people, especially young children, are abused day after day. Early reports and well formed assessments have confirmed that abused children often grow up to be abusers themselves. Victims of abuse, especially child abuse and sexual harassment, give out rather vivid signs and one can notice a troubled person simply by the way they talk and the way they behave.
Awareness:
When people are abused, again especially children, a wall of silence is erected between the victim and the rest of the world. Trust is no longer a good thing, for these people find it impossible to ever trust another person again. This is simply because of the fear of being ridiculed, blamed, rejected or disrespected.
Children find it particularly difficult to talk about their ordeals. They generally try to forget it, but seeing that it does not just go away, they find other possible ways to deal with it. They have various ways of dealing with these problems such as being aggressive, violent, or anti-social. This is rather sad, seeing that most of these children are so badly abused mentally that it affects their academic studies and future lives. Their concentration on any thing considered important gradually disappears, leaving a trail of other family, educational and social problems.
Most abusers are never found out, while the big time abusers carry on their disgusting deeds for decades. Only in recent years in Yemen, the media has uncovered a few cases of child abuse.
Just recently a Yemeni weekly reported the case of a drug addicted father who raped his daughter several times and made her pregnant. He then took her away to another town to give birth to the baby, which he killed instantly. The daughter then reported her father to the authorities. Upon knowing about this tragedy, her brother killed their father and surrendered himself to the police.
There was another more widely reported case that almost led to a tribal war. It was the case of four men who raped an 11-year-old boy whose tribe demanded immediate retribution. Although one of the men was sentenced to death and each of the three others to 10 years imprisonment, the boy’s tribe demanded that all four should be executed. They blocked roads and threatened the authorities with grave consequences. The case continuos.
Physical & Mental Ordeal:
Physical abuse has a great effect on the victim in the long run. Children in particular would become either aggressive or introverted. Even at that age they would seem to be more able to abuse or bully other children. Or they would become an even easier target to get bullied themselves, being quiet and withdrawn from the rest of the children. Victims of abuse, generally lack all the things that they would normally have not.
Basically, the physical symptoms of abuse can be difficulty in sleeping, loss of appetite, lethargy, and lack of physical energy. Abuse victims would often become the total opposite of what they were originally.
If their case is brought to light, victims of this crime are faced with the ordeal of having to explain all to a doctor, carrying out tests and examinations, etc. It is certainly not a favorable position for anybody to be in. If these victims choose not to go to a doctor and keep it a secret then they’re faced with the problem of fear and anxiety, considering all the deadly diseases they may have contracted.
This aspect of abuse certainly affects the mind, in more ways than many. Victims are mentally disturbed for a very long time. Loneliness afflicts them simply because they feel they have to be alone for as long as possible. It is hard to forget about such ordeals; therefore, these victims see no option but to refrain from all human contact. This may even destroy their marital life in years to come.
Conclusion:
People will always get abused, there is no strength to stop this. And the abusers also don’t stop their evil. But nobody ever stops to think of the victims, especially the children. Can we really imagine what effect this is having on them? They have nobody to confide in and nobody to turn to. Abuse makes an indelible mark on their minds.
You can’t ignore a tragedy can you? Young children grow up to be totally different from what they were originally. Is it fair to change homebody’s life unwillingly. The abusers most of the time feel no regret and show no remorse for what they have done and probably will continue to do.
This is a world wide crisis. What gives somebody the right to abuse another person, who gave them permission to do so? I’m not just referring to physical abuse. It’s mental and verbal abuse as well, which are just equally as bad. Now I leave something for the abusers themselves: What if it were you?
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