#malathy

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New Post has been published on http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2014/02/07/performance-based-education-system-can-result-in-child-abuse/

Performance-based education system can result in child abuse

Activists say nothing much is being done to prevent child abuse. The issue only stirs emotions when serious cases are highlighted by the media.[/caption]

KUALA LUMPUR

Even the education system, which is performance based, can lead to abuse of children, said a human rights officer and social worker.

“This leads parents to allow teachers to use force on children.

“I have seen parents who allow teachers to cane their children in front of them.

“Emotionally, it’s a ‘cancellation’ of the relationship between parents and children,” said Suriana Welfare Society for Children chairman and human rights commissioner James Nayagam.

He was commenting on the increasing number of child abuse cases being reported.

Nayagam said physical and emotional abuse of children were the most common.

“This often happens when a new spouse enters the family. In some cases, it’s due to mothers having new husbands and this can lead to the death of children.

“First of all, when a man marries, he doesn’t want any excess baggage. So he takes it out on the children of his wife.

“When a mother remarries, she doesn’t want to be thrown out onto the streets and becomes dependent on her new husband. So she bears with it when she sees the abuse.”

Based on his experience dealing with children, Nayagam said children ended up not trusting anyone. “It’s an uphill task to gain their confidence.”

Protect and Save the Children executive director P. Nagasayee Malathy said  there were many factors that may contribute to child abuse.

“But some increase risks to children and make them more vulnerable to abuse. These may be standalone factors or a mix. They differ from case to case.”

Parental issues such as divorce,  separation, early marriage, unwanted pregnancy, personal history of abuse, extramarital affairs, drugs, alcohol and their psychological disorders were contributing factors.

Families with a history of violence and socio-economic related stress issues were also factors that could lead to child abuse, according to Malathy.

“Among children, low self-esteem, physical or developmental disability, lack of attachment to parents and negligence are other factors.”

Both activists said  laws were in place and were sufficient  to tackle the alarming increase in child abuse cases.

Awareness, they say, was another factor that needed attention.

Malathy felt there was a lack of awareness among adults as well as children that children had rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and Malaysian laws.

She said there was also a lack of child safety and the willingness by adults to recognise that children had rights.

Nayagam said both commitment and awareness were important, but society lacked both.

“Only when something happens do people rise to the occasion.  Otherwise, there are no constant reminders.

“So people get away with it. In most cases I have come across, abuse had been happening for years in households, but nothing was done about it.”

The Malaysian public has grown jaded by news of children being abused.

One of the most shocking must have been in May, 1990 when “Baby Bala” was found abandoned at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital. He was covered with scars, old and new, and was so badly injured that he died 2 days later.

Child abuse cases have cropped up regularly over the years. Each time, they stir up a storm and calls for action.

Last month, a 2-year-old abused girl was found dead and abandoned at an empty house in Dungun.  Those responsible were the victim’s own mother and her boyfriend, who had custody of the child.

In another case that occurred in December 2013, a 2-year-old was abused by his father and the father’s girlfriend at an apartment in Kulaijaya, Johor Baru. The child later died.

In Kelantan, a mother was accused of abusing her 3-year-old daughter in November last year. The girl died of multiple injuries on her head and body.

According to the Welfare Department, 1,999 cases of child abuse were recorded in 2006. The following year, that number went up to 2,279 and in 2008, the number of cases reached 2,780.