Child abuse occurs when a child is deliberately harmed by a parent or other adult caregiver, or when a parent or caregiver fails to protect a child in their care.
There are four different kinds of abuse:
Physical
Sexual
Emotional
Neglect
What is Physical Abuse?
Physical abuse is any deliberate physical force or action by a parent or caregiver that results, or could result, in injury to a child. It can include bruising, cuts, punching, slapping, beating, shaking, burning, biting or throwing a child. Using belts, sticks or other objects to punish a child can cause serious harm and is also considered abuse.
Physical discipline of babies is unacceptable. Handling babies roughly - whether in anger or playfulness - is extremely dangerous. Shaking can cause serious injury, including brain damage, blindness and even death.
Milder punishments can lead to abuse when parents lose control and hurt their children. It is important for parents to learn the alternatives to physical punishment, and there are many good parenting programs and resources in the community.
What is Sexual Abuse?
Sexual abuse occurs when a child is used for the sexual gratification of an adult or an older child. The child may cooperate because he or she wants to please the adult or out of fear.
Sexual abuse of children can take many forms. This includes sexual intercourse, exposing a child's private areas, indecent phone calls, fondling for sexual purposes, watching a child undress for sexual pleasure, allowing a child to look at, or perform in pornographic pictures or videos, or engage in prostitution.
According to the Child and Family Services Act, the law that gives Children's Aid Societies their legal authority, sexual abuse is any sexual exploitation of a child by someone having charge of the child - parent or caregiver. Sexual abuse is also sexual exploitation by another person where the person with responsibility (parent or caregiver) should be aware of the possibility of abuse and fails to protect the child.
What is Emotional Abuse?
Emotional abuse is a pattern of behaviour that attacks a child's emotional development and sense of self worth. It includes excessive, aggressive or unreasonable demands that place expectations on a child beyond his or her capacity. Emotional abuse includes constantly criticizing, teasing, belittling, insulting, rejecting, ignoring, or isolating the child. It also includes failure by a parent or caregiver to provide their children with love, emotional support, and guidance. Emotional abuse can be the most difficult to identify and prove.
What is Neglect?
Most parents and caregivers do not intend to neglect their children. Instead, neglect is usually the result of ignorance about parenting or an inability to plan ahead. Neglect occurs when a caregiver fails to provide basic needs such as adequate food, sleep, safety, education, clothing or medical treatment. Neglect usually results from the lack of knowledge about appropriate care for children, lack of knowledge about child development or an inability to appropriately meet a child's needs. It also includes leaving a child alone or failing to provide adequate supervision.
For more information on abuse and neglect check out the links on our Community Awareness page.
Please Note:
If you have reasonable grounds to suspect that a child may have be in need of protection, it is important to call your local Children's Aid immediately. In Simcoe County call 1-800-461-4236 toll free - 24 hours a day. A trained child protection worker will conduct an investigation and assessment to determine if the child is at risk.
