Written by: Judylyn Palangan
Child Abuse has many forms, it can be on different ways such as physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. These forms have become monsters that completely change how the children act and how they perceive life. At a very young age, they already have the idea how cruel the world can be, the world they once think to be a paradise, would be a living nightmare in an instant.
Physical abuse can be defined as the use of violence and harming the children resulting to wounds, scars, and damage to their physical body, such as beating and hurting children. The cause of physical abuse can be the parent’s wish to discipline their children and to serve as their punishment for being stubborn.
Too much beating and hurting them may lead to physical abuse, and the effects lasts for a long time.
For an instance, one study found that children who experienced neglect were at increased risk for diabetes, poorer lung functioning, and vision and oral health problems. Children who had been physically abused were at higher risk for diabetes and malnutrition. Children who were victims of sexual abuse were more likely to contract hepatitis C and HIV (Widom et al., 2012).
Sexual abuse includes sexual assault, rape, and the acts of involvement in sexual violence or pornography at a very young age. There are some of the causes of sexual abuse such as poverty, in which the children are being sold to provide the basic needs of the family.
Children who also have poor health problems are more likely to experience sexual abuse as they couldn’t able to resist because of their poor mental conditions. The effects of sexual abuse are the tend of the children to self-harm, sexual health, emotional and mental harm, guilt and shame, they can also suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and abusive behavior growing up.
Emotional abuse includes verbal abuse and calling the children with derogatory names and the lack of emotional support. It can also be gaslighting the children to attempt to question their own sanity, and even their existence. The main cause of the emotional abuse is the repressed trauma that the parents itself have experienced during their childhood years. In result, the children also suffers from the same trauma which called, generational trauma. The other effects are attachment and social issues, posttraumatic stress, and poor mental and emotional health.
Child abuse cases are rapidly increasing. It is totally horrifying to see that thousands to millions of children are in danger, plus the fact that their lives and dreams are being taken away from them. Those children who just simply want to be happy and achieve their goals in life, are being exploited and abused.
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