By Osim Jones Usim, ESQ, MCRP, LLM,
BL, L.L.B, Executive Director Advocates Centre for Children and Youth Welfare.
Child protection
is a practical activity which must be learned. The first practical approach to
child protection is to know who a child is. It is a settled position of all
legislation, and the Child Rights Act that any person under 18 years is a child
and they are still evolving. That is why when you want to obtain certain
information concerning the child’s situation you must relate with children taking
into consideration their vulnerability.
In the course of
our field works, the below listed were noted to be major protection concerns of
children.
These are:-- Sexual Abuse
- Discrimination
- Neglect
- Child labour
- Sexual exploitation
- Children dubbed witches
- Street hawking
- Street begging
- Child trafficking
It is
important to point out that though rape is a form of child abuse it is captured
within the ambit of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of the Child. This we
believe will give the reader of this piece a more objective and unbiased
approach to putting into practice the lessons of this publication.
SEXUAL ABUSE:
Sexual
abuse of the child is taken undue advantage of the child sexually because of
his or her inability to discern the actual intention of the perpetrator of the
abuse. Though girls are more vulnerable to sexual abuse, boys are also sexually
abused, especially following the advent of internet and print media pornography.
Often time’s children do not report the incident and when it is eventually
reported harm may have been caused on the child. Sexual abuse therefore does
not revolve around the sex of the child but around the activity of the adult or
peer who is involved in the use of children to gratify their sexual desire.
Most children are sexually abused by their caregivers while most incidents
occur outside the home of the child. That is why we must understand the process
of child protection to help the child who is sexually abused.
DISCRIMINATION:
Discrimination
is the completion of the act of discriminating. It is extracted from the verb
discriminate, which is defined in Chambers Dictionary as, to note the
difference of or between, to distinguish, to select from others, to treat
differently, because of prejudice. In child protection, it is the physically
challenged child that is most vulnerable to discrimination. That is why we must
as of necessity know that every child have the same right in the sight of the
law. Orphans and children separated from homes are also vulnerable. We are
expected to stop discrimination by taking prompt action when it is discovered
that such action exists.
NEGLECT:
Neglect
is defined in Chambers Dictionary as; to treat carelessly, to pass by without
notice, to omit by carelessness, to fail to bestow due care upon or disregard.
Child neglect is therefore, the intentional omission of a person who ordinarily
have the duty of care for the child to perform such duty. Child neglect is practiced
out of the ignorance of the fact that every child deserve to be given the best
interest in the course of his/her development. Child neglect is the major cause
of child abuse in Nigeria today which must be tackled immediately.
CHILD LABOUR:
Labour is
defined in Chambers Dictionary as toil, work, bodily work and pains. Labour is
a task requiring hard work in an effort to satisfy the need of the Child. Child
labour therefore means the use of the child in tasks bigger than him/her in an
effort to satisfy needs. Child labour results from the neglect of the child and
the inability of the parent to provide the needs of the child especially the
necessaries such as food, shelter, clothing and care. The desire of every nation
is to produce a well-rounded citizen who can contribute meaningfully to the
growth of the nation. If there is no protection plan for children they end up
as disoriented adults whose only interest or expectation in life is to cause pain,
inflict injury on other members of the society.
SEXUAL EXPLOITATION:
In recent year’s
child prostitution, child pornography and use of children as baby factory have become
the norm in our society. They are all forms of sexual exploitation of children.
Sexual exploitation is defined in the Chambers Dictionary to mean the act of
using for selfish purposes, which means that those involved in sexual
exploitation of children do it for their own selfish interest and not for the
best interest of the child. It is important
to know that no matter how
fully developed a child is physically as
long as the child is under the age of 18
years he or she is still a child and
deserve to be protected by the persons whose duty it is to protect the child. There are several instances of an Aunty
turning an orphan child in her custody into a baby factory because she (the
Aunty) could not bear children. Sexual exploitation is abuse of children which
must be stopped from the roots before it engulfs the entire society.
CHILDREN DUBBED WITCHES:
With the advent
of certain diseases which kills without notice children caught up in the web of
such are dubbed witches more especially when the resultant death is so
mysterious that no reasonable explanation is proffered as to the cause of
death. The most vulnerable children are those orphaned by HIV/Aids diseases. In
some states it is the practice that children are chased out of their homes
because of insinuation that they are involved in Witchcraft activity. This has continued despite series of
governmental interventions. It is important to note that children dubbed witches are threatened to either own up or say the truth, they are
subjected to severe treatment
that leaves a permanent mark in
their young heart. That is why we
must quickly act, once there is it an identified identifiable child victim in
this category.
STREET HAWKING:
Street hawking
by children is a practice which predates the Child Rights Laws, but has now
assumed a very dangerous dimension because of its effect on children. Children from
poor homes are most vulnerable though children who are engaged as house helps
and children in apprenticeship also fall victim too. Street hawking is defined in
Chambers Dictionary as; one who goes about offering goods for sale. A child who
is involved in street hawking is easily exposed to acts or omission which may
be detrimental to his/or health as such the need to protect him/her, by
offering an alternative activity such as education or skill acquisition. It is
our duty as individuals to render assistance where need to be, to make sure that children involved in street hawking
are resettled, because study have shown that their contribution to the family does not equal the risk they face on the street.
STREET BEGGING:
Begging by
children is a common sight in our major towns but the painful aspect of it is
the antics behind street begging. As the term implies street begging is the act
of going from street to street soliciting for alms or charity. This act has become,
a profitable venture that vulnerable children are turned to the street to
solicit for alms by their care givers. This is not withstanding the effect of this
unwholesome act or children. Though there are steps taken by stakeholders to take
children out of the street, this laudable efforts are being sabotaged because
of benefits those into the business derive from it. We must therefore support
any effort aimed at helping to resettle children who are involved in street
begging as it is an ill wind that blows no one any good.
CHILD TRAFFICKING:
Child
trafficking may be the re-content avenue for children & youth for children who
end up being victims of child abuse. In our protection activity often time
child victims of abuse are children who have been taken from the homes to serve
as house helps or apprentices in another town. These children are vulnerable and
need protection from the society because they are often far from their
immediate family and cannot help themselves because of their incapacity to do
so. There are laws specifically enacted to prevent child trafficking but due to
the gains accruable from the activity and some level of compromise from the
society we tend to turn blind eye to this form of child abuse. Child
trafficking is one child abused that
gives birth to Sexual abuse,
discrimination, neglect child labour, sexual exploitation, children dubbed,
witches, street hawking, street bagging and other forms of child abuse. That is why we must quickly support any
initiative that will put an end to child trafficking.
FOLLOW 
FOR CHILD RELATED ISSUES on SATURDAYS
FOR CHILD RELATED ISSUES on SATURDAYS
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