No Hit Zone campaign will be a new milestone

Dubai’s timely initiative has the power to alleviate the trauma a child faces when subjected to abuse

The No Hit Zone initiative to be taken up by the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children (DFWAC) signals another milestone in Dubai’s unflagging efforts to promote child safety and well-being in society. Announced during the three-day Prevention of Child Abuse conference, which ends today, the campaign will focus on eliminating every possibility of an adult hitting a child or a child hitting a child. This seemingly simple aim, however, has the far-reaching power to alleviate the trauma a child faces when subjected to abuse.

The issue of physical violence on children or between children cut its moorings from the domestic domain many decades ago as the socio-political and socio-psychological discourses around the world increasingly woke up to the phenomenon of child abuse and its devastating consequences. There is a staggering volume of irrefutable evidence on the damage done to a child’s overall development when they are physically, and otherwise, abused. Yet, the unfortunate reality is that the tug of war between the apologists for corporal punishment as a disciplinary device and its outraged opponents continues. Centuries of cultural beliefs on child-rearing perpetuate violence against children as a quotidian reflex as millions of children each year are mentally and emotionally maimed by abuse.

Efforts such as the No Hit Zone campaign by DFWAC, which is part of a wider campaign in the region, are the antidote to a phenomenon that needs to be countered with constant education and awareness. For every parent who learns to acknowledge the power of empathy and caring as the real tools of child development, there will be one less child damaged by violence. That’s the only way forward.