Suffering of the Innocent: Child Abuse

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"One in four females and one in six males will be sexually abused before his or her 18th birthday" (Nojadera 21). These staggering statistics illuminate the issue of child abuse as one of the most profound problems in society. The astonishingly high rate of maltreatment occurrences at an early age makes one wonder why the topic is not addressed more often. Often going unnoticed by everyone around them, children are enduring unimaginable suffering every day . Many victims feel completely alone because there is no one with whom they feel safe. Although many governments have taken some form of action, it is nowhere close to enough. Victims sustain considerable damage in every type of child abuse, and they often also have dangerous repercussions later in their adult lives; consequently, there are numerous reasons why citizens should become involved in helping prevent and eradicate child abuse. Regardless of the characteristic details associated with each type of abuse, all divisions activate pain or suffering for the innocent child. The first major category of violation is physical abuse, which involves inflicting concrete physical injury ("Types of Child Abuse"). Despite the fact that this infraction appears to be only an outward injury, it can result in mental as well as physical damage for the child. In many cases, the child's inability to protect himself against the perpetrator causes him to believe that he is also susceptible to psychological fragility. A second common form of infringement is emotional abuse, which produces issues regarding the child's mental well-being ("Types of Child Abuse"). Communicating to children that their lives are meaningless or causing them to experience terror leads to feelings of extr... ... middle of paper ... ...rch Premier. EBSCO, Nov. 2013. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. Fergusson, David M., Geraldine F.H. McLeod, and L. J. Horwood. "Childhood Sexual Abuse and Adult Developmental Outcomes: Findings from a 30-year Longitudinal Study in New Zealand." Academic Search Premier. EBSCO, Sept. 2013. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. Neher, Jon O. "Unreleased Emotions from Child Abuse Can Create Devastating Anger." Child Abuse. Ed. Heidi Williams. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "The Decade Dance." Annals of Family Medicine 3 (2005): 462. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. Nojadera, Bernard. "Children First." MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO, 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. Walsh, Kerryann, and Leisa Brandon. "Their Children's First Educators: Parents' Views About Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Education." Academic Search Premier. EBSCO, Oct. 2012. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.

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