Dear Editor,
Several organizations have dealt with the appalling problem of child abuse at length, most notably the World Health Organization in concert with the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN). Jointly, they have developed a guide “for taking action and generating evidence to assist countries to design and deliver programmes for the prevention of child maltreatment by parents and caregivers.
The guide provides technical advice for professionals working in governments, research institutes and NGOs on how to measure the extent of child maltreatment and its consequences; how to design, implement and evaluate prevention programmes, and on important considerations for detecting and responding to child maltreatment.
The guide is a practical tool that will help governments implement the recommendations of the recently released United Nations Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Children.”
According to Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, one of the main contributors to the guide, Preventing child maltreatment: A guide to taking action and generating evidence, “The best way to deal with violence against children is to stop it before it happens.”
Unfortunately, one of the key issues identified is that “much of the violence against children remains hidden and is often socially approved.” Accountability is a crucial factor, as a strong legal framework is impotent if it does not send a “robust, unequivocal signal that society just will not accept violence against children”.
Crucial suggestions in preventing the maltreatment of children by parents and caregivers included:
– reducing unintended pregnancies;
– reducing harmful levels of alcohol and illicit drug use during pregnancy;
– reducing harmful levels of alcohol and illicit drug use by new parents;
– improving access to high quality pre- and post-natal services;
– providing home visitation services by professional nurses and social workers to families where children are at high-risk of maltreatment;
– providing training for parents on child development, non-violent discipline and problem-solving skills.
– In a community setting, the key recommendations were:
– pre-school enrichment programmes to give young children an educational head start;
– life skills training;
– assisting high-risk adolescents to complete schooling;
– reducing alcohol availability through the enactment and enforcement of liquor licensing laws, taxation and pricing;
– restricting access to firearms
Clearly, the WHO/ISPCAN has identified the use and availability of alcohol as being a substantial contributor to the problem. Also, given that many acts of abuse are perpetrated by older children, there is the recommendation of training and assisting high-risk adolescents to prevent them from engaging in abusive behaviour towards younger children.
Of note, in the Guyana situation there is the prevalence of “acceptable” levels of extreme violence in the home, and the subsequent powerlessness of children to prevent it. This may eventually result in their “acting out” towards others who are weaker than they.
The myriad expressions of violence that weave seamlessly throughout our society must be expurgated. From the sensationalized visions of abuse and the objectification of women and girls, to the widespread acceptance of a gender-based hegemony, we continue to ignore the psychological underpinnings that constitute the basis for the perpetration of sexually-based violence.
A clear and unambiguous acknowledgement of the influence of the gender disparity that exists, is necessary to comprehensively address the problem.
But, we cannot wait for the next tragedy to occur, and, again, scratch our heads as to the “cause” and “solution” to the problem, all the while wondering “how this could happen”. Useless pontification needs to cease, as the wheel has already been invented. The limited excerpt taken from the WHO/ISPCAN document is illustrative of the fact that there is an abundance of readily accessible, practical scholarship on the subject.
Enough has been said, it is time to act.
Yours faithfully,
Scheherazade Ishoof-Khan
