FORMS OF CHILD ABUSE IN MY LOCALITY AND HOW THEY COULD BE AVOIDED

Child abuse has been one issue that has been a major source of worry in Nigeria. The issue of child abuse exists in various forms but the one with an increased rate has been having sex with kids and teenagers. Not only does this affect the kids negatively, but some also end up being miserable after the incidents, and most never recover.

This particular form of child abuse has been in existence for as long as I could remember. despite that, the number of sexually abused kids is on the rise. In fact, some cultures in Nigeria encourage this. A key example is the northern side of Nigeria that allows older men to get married to female kids of the age of 9 upward. This exposure this kid to sex at an early age, yet, the whole process is legal and even encouraged. The government turned a blind eye to this activity in the northern part of Nigeria yet, they frown at it in the western and eastern parts of the Country.

The female child suffers the most from this form of abuse. What I believe has been the greatest cause of this is the society allowing it and the government policy not supporting it. Some people went as far as painting the victims of this abuse as the real cause of the issue and that is so absurd.

The first-hand effect of kids sexually abused which I have witnessed is that the kids tend to scare away from the person who abused them. While doing this, they tend to speak less and their behavior tends to change. A kid once very happy might become withdrawn after abuse. Some are even affected more as they tend to never move close to men or boys in general. These kids are always scared and silent after the abuse. The psychological effect is damaging as some kids might want to engage in more sexual activities.

Well, in the aspect of the kids avoiding being sexually abused, this rests in the hands of the adults around them. Adults should pay more attention to their ward. Also, parents should be more friendly with their kids and also create an atmosphere of trust to enable their kids to find it easy to speak around them. By doing this kids will freely tell them about the abuse they are facing or currently going through. Also, parents should monitor their kids well and avoid sending them to stay around males/men when they are out.

In conclusion, being part of a voluntary group that tends to speak out this these abuses, I must say that these issues are overwhelming. I have seen cases that a father has continuously raped his own kid of about 15 years of age until she got pregnant. The rapping started when she was 10 years of age. While avoiding this issue of sexual abuse in kids is in the hands of parents, there is no denying that it's the duty of everyone to work together and prevent events like that.

Let's be more vigilant and also raise an alarm whenever we spot an event of child abuse.