RUBA HAZA PHYSICAL ABUSE IS BIGGEST RISK FOR YOUNG CHILDREN

Dubai foundation says work still needs to be done after first year of groundbreaking protection law

Physical abuse of young children was the most common complaint received by a Dubai shelter for women and children, officials said, a year on from the implementation of the Child Protection Law.

Schools are calling the shelter to report suspected cases of physical abuse or to ask for information and guidance, said Afra Al Basti, director general of the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children yesterday at the announcement of a regional conference on child abuse and neglect.

The schools come forward because they do not want suspected cases to continue, she said.

By law, doctors and teachers have a responsibility to report their suspicions.

“Schools have started to call because they don’t want a crime to carry on and if they have seen something they want to report it,” she said.

“The schools ask us for more awareness campaigns and workshops to identify abuse and to explain to children to come forward and talk about it.”

In some cases, the problem started with verbal and continued to physical abuse.

“Children can’t explain what verbal abuse is because they think it’s the culture and normal language between students. But when physical abuse happens and they talk about it, then the history comes out.”

Ms Al Basti did not provide details about the calls received by the foundation or the number of cases handled after the Child Protection Law came into effect.

She said the foundation usually learnt of cases at the critical stage, from age seven through to the teenage years.

Phone calls were also received from parents who found out their child had been sexually abused only after a doctor uncovered a medical condition.

“Some families discover it after the child gets an STD (sexually transmitted disease) for example and then they talk about it.”

Parents called for guidance to ask about telltale signs that could provide clues if a child was being abused in school.

“The mother sometimes finds her son or daughter sitting lonely in a corner or their academic performance is low. We are starting to see parents calling to know more,” Ms Al Basti said.

“We are building awareness in the family and community. This is a big shift to building trust that we are there to help. So if you notice anything, just call, even if there are only doubts.”

The 5th Arab Regional Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect in November would further help to spread awareness, she said.

Greater awareness about the signs of physical abuse and knowledge among doctors and teachers about laws to protect children will help to stop abuse, said UAE and Saudi officials ahead of the forum.

Parents must also be more vigilant to prevent potentially fatal threats to young children as a result of neglect, said Maha Al Muneef, the executive director of the National Family Safety Programme in Saudi Arabia and chairwoman of the Arab Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.

In the UAE, the drowning last week of four young boys at an Abu Dhabi farm and the death in June of two sisters who suffocated in their father’s car in the afternoon heat highlighted the importance of safety and the need for better supervision of children. Similar cases were reported in the region, too, Ms Al Muneef said.

A recent but unpublished study of child death cases by King Abdulaziz Medical City in Saudi Arabia found that while 90 per cent were a result of medical causes, about 10 per cent were caused by neglect.

“Neglect is the most common type of abuse and the least measured by professionals. The study is not yet published but we found that 10 per cent of deaths were preventable,” she said.

“It can be a house accident, such as drowning, being left in a car and suffering heat exhaustion, not putting on a seat belt. So one in 10 children are dying because of neglect.

“This is really scary because we are preventing infectious and genetic diseases, and then children are dying because of drowning or because we are not really paying attention.”

Parenting programmes had been started in Saudi Arabia to teach newly-weds how to make their house safe, but such programmes needed to be more widespread, she said.