Child Abuse and Child Labour

Hello Cent Platform!

It's a good day and I bring to you two major challenges facing the complete development/upbringing of a child and most a times parents/abusers use these as an excuse for alleviating poverty in their families. Good evening!

We have to define these terms in order to remain in context of what they really are and to know the extent at which they're affecting our society negatively.

What is Child Abuse?
Child abuse is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to act by a parent or a caregiver that results in actual or potential harm to a child and can occur in a child's home, or in the organizations, schools, or communities the child interacts with.

One common factor as described by the above definition of the fact that child abuses occur everywhere across the globe, which makes it a global menace.

There is increase cases of rape, sexual violence and other acts that cause harm to the child. One major fear is that these acts are mostly carried out or committed by family members and friends who threatens to harm the child if he or she exposes them.

Most foster parents usually maltreat their foster children who go on to become depressed.

What is Child Labor?
The term “child labour” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that:

• is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and/or
• interferes with their schooling by: depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.

I think almost every parent in Sub-Saharan Africa and other low income countries are guilty of this crimes because most of the families think that to meet up with the payment of family's bills everyone in the family must put hands on deck.

Most children came into this world to see this crime and feel it's part of their normal responsibilities to their families.

During school hours, if you work on the streets across Africa you'll see children hawking various goods to bring returns to their families and some of them have to suffer severe beating if they don't make any sales.

What can we do about these menace?

• Since many parents and caregivers complain of not meeting up with the daily/monthly family bills, governments of nations and other non-governmental organizations should look into improving the standard of living of the people. Governments should target poverty alleviation as a major part of their governing agenda and also increase human capital development in their various government.
• A law enforcement agency that'll collaborate with the United Nations Office of Human Rights to apprehend culprits and violators of child rights laws.
• Government should build facilities such as schools and places of entrepreneur training to help the children in vocational education.