How To Stop Child Abuse
Posted on April 21, 2025Child abuse happens every day somewhere. How to Stop it
How to stop child abuse. The cases are horrific and very upsetting. As parents our thoughts fall into two questions, how can i protect my children and at the same time what can i do to stop child abuse.Child abuse ring victims suffered 'horrific ordeal'
Boy locked in room 'endured neglect for years'
These cases sadden and anger us as the same time. How can this happen in today's society.
What can we do to identify and prevent it.
- Know the signs.
- Be Proactive.
- Your own Behaviour.
- Keeping your children safe.
- Believing children.
- On line safety
Know the Signs of child abuse.
Unexplained injuries may seem obvious but also depression, fear of a certain adult, difficulty trusting others or making friends. Family problems may be highlighted by sudden changes in eating or sleeping patterns, inappropriate sexual behavior, poor hygiene, secrecy, and hostility. All of these could indicate a child is being neglected or physically, sexually, or emotionally abused.Abuse is not always physical
Neglect can be very damaging. Not being cared for, given clothing or food.
Children can also be emotionally abused when they are rejected, berated, or continuously isolated.
The NSPCC details these common signs of child abuse and can help you assess the situation and determine if these are actual signs of child abuse or indicators of other things happening in the childs life.
- unexplained changes in behaviour or personality
- becoming withdrawn
- seeming anxious
- becoming uncharacteristically aggressive
- lacks social skills and has few friends, if any
- poor bond or relationship with a parent
- knowledge of adult issues inappropriate for their age
- running away or going missing
- always choosing to wear clothes which cover their body.
If you're unsure or concerned about possible child abuse, report it.
if you witness abuse or think it maybe occurring, report it. There is a reluctance to get involved. That someone else will raise it. School will notice. This may be the case but if you have concerns you should report them. Your actions can have a direct impact either identifying the issue or supporting other reports of abuse or concerns.There may be a concern of possible intervention or children being taken away unnecessarily but we have to rely on the system doing its job. That there will be support for children and parents but ultimately if children are removed we trust it is the right decision to prevent another tragedy.
Please consult the following. You can make reports anonymously.
Crime Stoppers
UK Government Advice on reporting child abuse
NSPCC Every Child is Worth Fighting For
Preventing child abuse isn't just about awareness and reporting. You can be pro active.
Child abuse can be prevented by education and training. New and inexperienced parents can be supported. You can do this by being active in your community. This can be by setting up a parents coffee morning. An after school group or activity. Local religious centers will i'm sure be willing to help and provide facilities. Local to us we have a 'hub' that children can go to after school. They do activities and provide a space for children and adults. Our children have been and talk favorably about it. I'm sure this has a positive affect.
If you haven't got something like that think about setting one up. You can have a positive local impact and I'm sure others would help.
You can help, educate and guide parents and children.
Think about your own behavior in relation to child abuse
Use your actions to show children and other adults that conflicts can be settled without hitting or yelling. Abuse is not just physical. Both words and actions can inflict deep, lasting wounds. Be a nurturing parent.Use discipline correctly. Never discipline your child when you are upset. Take time to calm down. Remember that discipline teaches your child. Use privileges to encourage good behavior and time-outs to help your child regain control.
Child abuse comes in many forms. Our experience.
Child Safety For Your Children
You should also help keep your children safe by teaching them child friendly awareness. There are various organisations that offer free, child friendly guidance and teaching. This helps your children understand what rules shouldn't be broken in a child friendly way.You must always remain vigilant without living in fear. Never be afraid to ask questions, even of genuine and respectable organisations. Ensure you understand where your children are., whom they are mixing with and who will be engaging with them.
This maybe as simple as meeting the people running the club your children attend. Seeing the venue of a party. Asking about training for people working at a sports centre your children attend.
We try to be vigilant but not let it disrupt our lives.
Believing children.
Its important children are believed and listened to. Children's concerns and red flags are heard and action-ed where necessary.We know this can be problematic. Our experience below.
The child of very good friends mentioned something inappropriate. It was out of character and explicit. We didn't believe it and had no other reason to suggest it was true but also we couldn't ignore it. We reported the conversation. We decided for us it was the right thing to do and even though we knew the people well we didn't know what happened behind closed doors. The matter was investigated, the parents spoken to and the matter closed. Which aligned to our expectation but the matter was investigated.
The parents concerned understood our actions. I think they would have preferred us to have gone to them first but for us this didn't make sense. They would have assured us, and then what would we do. If we reported it then it would be like we didn't believe them. We took the view we'd listen to the child and take action based on that.
Better to lose a friendship than have missed the opportunity to prevent the abuse of a child and have to live with that.
On line safety
A big one for today's children. Many dangers exist on line, for example.Children can coerced to sharing pictures of themselves and blackmailed.
Forced to share explicit images.
'Dangerous' paedophile jailed after online abuse
Talk to people who are not who they portray to be.
Sadly it happens and children are more exposed to online abuse than ever.
If your child was going to a new club or event, you'd want to check it out. Understand and know about it and be sure it was safe.
Treat the internet and social media exactly the same way. Again there are various resources that can help teach your children on line safety.
You can't be there all the time but taking time to understand what your children are doing on line, who they are talking to and putting in place some basic rules seemed a good idea for us. If we weren't happy we took away the phone / technology access. Rules and boundaries needed to be maintained.
Thank you for reading blog, 'How To Stop Child Abuse'.
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