Child abuse hotline in Sharjah receives 134 reports

Rise in reported cases after new UAE law takes effect

SHARJAH // A child abuse hotline in Sharjah registered 134 reports in the first four months of the year.

Negligence, neglect, and phys- ical and emotional abuse were the main complaints, said Ahmad Al Tartor, director of the Sharjah Children Hotline.

The rise in reported cases resulted from the mandatory reporting of incidents to children protection agencies after the Child Protection Law took effect last year.

Federal Law 3 of 2016 requires social workers, teachers and anyone in contact with a child to report cases of suspected abuse to the authorities. “We carried out campaigns in private and public schools to make everyone aware of the law and the services of the child protection hotline,” Mr Al Tartor said.

Sharjah’s child protection department distributed 500 brochures to schools as part of a campaign with the Ministry of Justice to highlight the new law.

In the first quarter of this year, 49 cases of family problems were reported.

In one incident, a schoolgirl started to skip classes and her grades suffered. “She kept missing school until we were notified about the case,” said Mr Al Tartor.

“We sat down with the girl and learnt that her parents were temporarily separated. “The mother knew that her child was skipping school, while the father was unaware and not in contact with his daughter.”

Social workers helped the cou- ple to reconcile and to improve their relationship with their daughter.

Mr Al Tartor said the girl’s grades improved significantly after her domestic life returned to normal.

The 24-hour hotline registered 37 complaints of bullying and peer pressure. It is reachable at 800 700. Figures for last year’s cases were not available.