Responding To Child Sexual Abuse

When a child tells an adult that he or she has been sexually abused, the adult may feel uncomfortable and may not know what to say or do. The following guidelines should be used when responding to children who say they have been sexually abused.
If a child even hints in a vague way that sexual abuse has occurred:

* Encourage him or her to talk freely.
* Show that you understand and take seriously what the child is saying.
* Assure the child that they did the right thing in telling.
* Tell the child that he or she is not to blame for the sexual abuse.
* Finally, offer the child protection, and promise that you will promptly take steps to see that the abuse stops.

When a child tells someone about sexual abuse, a supportive, caring response is the first step in getting help for the child and reestablishing their trust in adults.

Signs of Sexual Abuse in Childhood

Sexually abused children may develop the following:

* Unusual interest in or avoidance of all things of a sexual nature.
* Sleep problems or nightmares.
Depression or withdrawal from friends or family.
* Seductiveness.
* statements that their bodies are dirty or damaged, or fear that there is something wrong with them in the genital area.
* Refusal to go to school.
* Delinquency/conduct problems.
* Secretiveness.
* Aspects of sexual molestation in drawings, games, fantasies.
* Unusual aggressiveness, or suicidal behavior.

Secrecy

Secrecy is a key which most abused children/adults try to hold on. There are several reasons for this, one of which is because they might get “publicised” and “stamped.” In the society, abused children are always given less respect and often not allowed to be a part of the society. These children take the measure of being “silent”, to avoid social stamping of “abused.”
The fear of not getting justice is another reason why abused children keep quiet. In some cases the abused children are critised by the law and are punished (as it happened in Maldives). This fear pushes them back from asking for justice.
The psychological affects to the abused child is another, perhaps the, reason why abused children choose to be silent. They get in a phsychological situation called “disturbed” and are often reffered to as “phsychologically disturbed children.”
Picture: bulhaa.blogspot.com

School Girl Sexually Abused

Maldivian bloggers are concerned and are writing up about the recent case of a school girl humiliated by tieing to a tree naked, and sexually abusing her. By now everyone is wondering how the case would end.
Ibthisaam’s Blog says that “the fact that the men chose to film and circulate the assault, will lead to more to claims that sexual abuse is acceptable in Maldivian society.”
Angain Naaraa Teddy’s Babblings says that “The guys have been caught thankfully. Seems there were about 15ppl at the scene. Most of them were jes watching but they too will share the sentence. Afterall, they weren’t any better jes cos they were watching.”

Four children allowed to marry under “special circumstances”

Four minors were allowed to marry last year under “special circumstances,” the Gender Ministry confirmed Wednesday in a statement.
In a statement which was released by the ministry to refuse mostly Haveeru’s claims that Maldives is a “paradise for pedophiles” and that the Gender Ministry’s Child Rights Unit headed by Mazeena Jameel, allowed children to marry under “special circumstances”, ironically the ministry itself confirmed that last year, four under-18s were allowed to marry under “special circumstances.” The ministry said that the Justice Ministry had asked the Gender Ministry to “advise” the Family court on such issues, and that during the period February 2006 to July 2007, 59 such cases were referred. “Out of these, only four children were given official permission to marry.”

Source: http://www.haveeru.com.mv/beta/english/?page=details&id=17664

Yet Another Two Cases of Child Abuse: in Male’ Vilingili and Gaafu Dhaalu atoll Hoadehdhoo

The past week has brought us to another two cases of child abuse. In one case a male expatriate teacher was caught red-handed molesting an 8-year-old boy in Gaafu Dhaalu atoll Hoadehdhoo, Thursday night. The teacher was caught red-handed by a group of people which included the boy’s mother.
In another case a video which is being circulated on mobile phones, a girl from Aminiya School is seen tied to a tree nude, as she screams for help while the torturers continue to assault her. A police official said that the incident occurred on the 1st of this month in the woods of Male’s satellite town Vilingili, which already has become a nest for heroin abuse and trafficking though police are stationed there.
Now, everybody would be wondering how the cases would end. Well, I don’t have a good hope for the cases to go in the court.

Save Our Children

Save our children. They are the future of our country.

Picture Source: http://ahmedzahid.blogspot.com/2007/08/friendly-faces-also-from-naivaadhoo.html