Definition
Child abuse is broadly defined in many states as any type of
cruelty inflicted upon a child, including mental abuse, physical harm, neglect,
and sexual abuse or exploitation which is mostly caused by parents or
caretakers. Extended families or community members sometimes take in
orphaned children solely to gain access to their inherited property or to use
them as revenue sources by sending them out to work, steal, or engage in
prostitution. Children who do find themselves in homes with foster parents or
extended families are sometimes abused, neglected or exploited. There were
high levels of prostitution, even among girls as young as nine years old. The
father’s brother will come in and take the land after the parents die. His wife
sends the children out at night and tells them not to come back until they have
200 shillings. Of course they will fall into prostitution—what else can they
do? [1].The
specific crimes charged in instances of child abuse can include battery.
Children under common law were considered as the property of their parents
until the late 1800s.in 1870s child abuse captured the nation’s attention with
the news that an 8-year-old orphan named Mary Ellen Wilson was suffering daily
whippings and beatings at her foster home. Her plight fell on the attorneys for
American Society for the prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).they argued
that laws protecting animals should not be greater than those laws protecting
children. The judge convicted the foster mother to one year imprisonment. The
development with the realization of children rights continued with time and
across the world. Where each state was required to establish a mandatory
reporting laws system.
Child abuse is also a clear and present danger plaguing Africa. In
Africa, most of child abuse cases are manifested under polygamous families and
extended families where children are left under care.
In Kenya despite the enactment of the Children Act of 2001, cases
of child abuse are still rampant due to ineffective implementation of this
legislation. However it has also improved many children lives.
Legal representation of children in Kenya is rare as there is no
state-paid legal aid system for children who cannot afford the legal fees.
Amsha Africa seeks to build the capacity of young person’s as
advocates for protection of orphans and other vulnerable children.
A child who has been abused or neglected may experience a range of
problems, such as relationship difficulties, lack of trust of adults, emotional
outbursts (or retreat), low performance at school, depression, anxiety, and
anger.
In addition to state child abuse laws, all states have child
protective services agencies that investigate reports of abuse and neglect of
children in a home.
Examples of warning signs of abuse of a child may include:
- Physical
abuse -
unexplained burns, bites, bruises, and broken bones or parent's philosophy
of harsh physical discipline
- Emotional
abuse -
extreme behavior, delayed physical or emotional development, attempted
suicide, and belittling by a parent or caregiver
- Sexual
abuse -
difficulty walking or sitting, reports of nightmares or bedwetting, sudden
changes in appetite, sudden refusal to change in front of others or
participate sport activities.
Kenyan courts are trying to handle cases which involve child abuse
and exploitation. In the case of STATE of New Jersey,
Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Margaret Kelly MICHAELS,
Defendant-Respondent. Supreme Court of New Jersey.
The opinion of the Court was delivered by HANDLER, J. In
this case a nursery school teacher was convicted of bizarre acts of sexual
abuse against many of the children who had been entrusted to her care.
She was sentenced to a long prison term with a substantial period of parole
ineligibility. In September 1984, Margaret Kelly Michaels was hired by
Wee Care Day Nursery ("Wee Care") as a teacher. Level the
three-year-old children were housed in the basement and the kindergarten class
was located on the third floor. During nap time, Michaels, under the
supervision of the head teacher and the director, was responsible for about
twelve children in one of the basement classrooms. The classroom assigned
to Michaels was separated from an adjacent occupied classroom by a vinyl
curtain. During the seven month period that Michaels worked at Wee Care, she
apparently performed satisfactorily. We Care never received a complaint
about her from staff, children, or parents. But before she resigned parents and
teachers began observing behavioral changes in the children. One mother while
waking him up for school noticed that he was covered with spots. When
being examined by pediatrician the kid said that that is what the teacher did
to him during nap time by undressing him and taking his temperature daily. He
said that the teacher used his: white jean stuff; which upon investigation was
found to be Vaseline. The kid also said that the teacher hurt other two of his
classmates. The mother reported and teacher charged for sexual abuse on
163 counts. Some counts were dismissed but was found guilty on others.
.
Child labor and armed conflict
The Eastern and Southern Africa region has the highest proportion
of children involved in child labor in the world - 36 percent of all children
between the ages of five and 14. This regional average, however, hides large
differences between countries, ranging from 9 percent in Swaziland to 53
percent in Ethiopia.
Under CRC, child protection is defined as prevention and response
to violence, exploitation and abuse against children which includes commercial
sexual exploitation, child labor and harmful traditional practices such as FGM,
early marriages etc.
Most of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are interested in
protecting children issues. They cannot be achieved without if there is failure
to protection of children. Child labor squanders a nation’s human capital and
conflicts disrupting the efforts to achievement of universal primary education.
International Labor Organization (ILO) indicates that tens of
thousands of boys and girls find themselves fighting adult wars in at least 17
countries in different regions across the world. Some are used as fighters and
takes direct part in hostilities while others as supportive roles such as
cooking, messengers etc. These children are abducted, forcefully recruited or
even personally join so that they can fulfill certain needs.
ILO Convention No 182 defines forced or compulsory recruitment of
children of use in armed conflicts as worst form of child labor .even the Rome
Statute has recognized the as a war crime which may lead to individuals being
prosecuted.
United Nations also has negotiated actions with armed parties to
end recruitment of children, release and reintegration programmers be
implemented worldwide.
IPEC has implemented projects to reintegrate children who were
formerly associated with armed forces and groups in Central Africa., and in
Colombia.
Armed Conflict places children at risk of dying, being seriously
injured and severely traumatized and even struggling to readapt to ordinary
life.
US do not permit compulsory recruitment of children for military
services but does allow children at age of 17 to volunteer for services in
armed conflict.
Through a statement made by Kenyan Cabinet secretary for ministry
of labour,Mr Kazungu Kambi, almost two million children are affected by child
labour despite the global reduction in the global number of child lobour cases
in 2012,the practice remains key concern for Kenyan authorities, despite the
development of of a national action to eliminate child labour that was
established in 2004.In Kenya, Employment Act defines a child as one below 18
years. The minimum age for admission into employment under section 56, is the
age of 13 years, where children of age 13-16 can be employed to perform light
work and 16-18, are considered employable. This Act provides that complaints of
child labor are to be made to the office of labor or any officer at the rank of
an inspector or above. It further declares child labor as offence and person
found guilty is to be imprisoned for not more than one year or be fined not
more ksh.200,000.
Children Act provides that under section 10, children ARE to be
protected from economic exploitation, any work that interferes with their
education, or harmful to their health or physical and mental and spiritual
development. Also fro recruitment to hostilities armed conflict.
The penal code too provides punishment to offences of child abuse
such as assault battery, defilement indecent acts among others.
Tedious domestic work, waste picking, agricultural work and
commercial sex work have been singled out as the worst form o child labor in
Kenya. According to the report by Cesvi ( an international
NGO),Kayole,Dandora,Ruaraka,Mukuru kwa Njenga,Rusinga East,Gembe West are some
of the hot spots for these worst forms of child labor. this children are either
orphans or those neglected by their parents. They either miss school, or
combine school work with long and heavy work which affects their development.
Kenyan government should increase the number of labor officers country wide to
try and curb this menace which increasing in a worrying rate.
Sexual Exploitation
Child sexual abuse is a form of child
abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for stimulation. Forms
of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual
activities (regardless of the outcome), indecent exposure (of the genitals, female
nipples, etc.) to a child with intent to gratify their own sexual desires, or
to intimidate or groom the child, physical sexual contact with a child, or
using a child to produce child pornography.
Commercial sexual exploitation of children constitutes
a form of coercion and violence against
children and amounts to forced labor and a contemporary form of slavery or sexual
abuse by the adult and remuneration in cash or kind to the child or a third
person or persons. The child is treated as a sexual object and as a commercial
object.
It is not always easy to tell whether a child has been sexually
abused. Sexual abuse often occurs in secret, and there is not always physical
proof of the abuse. For these reasons, child sexual abuse can be hard to
detect.
It is difficult for parents or guardians to protect their children
a hundred percent but they can try to ensure that they know the people who come
around their children.
Repuplic v daudi mwangi kimani,case no.1804/10, the
accused was convicted on two counts of defilement of girls aged 8 years and 10
years. The case of Medardo Vs Republic ,involved a child
victim of sexual assault. In the cause of the proceedings, the
prosecution informed the court that the “complainant” and his father did not
wish to proceed with the case. The child victim’s mother stated on oath that
they had pardoned the respondent. The trial court then proceeded to
acquit the respondent under Section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The
Republic appealed against the decision of the subordinate court on the ground
that the basis of the acquittal was an application to withdraw brought by a
person other than the complainant. In making its finding on this point, the
High Court, sitting as the appellate court noted that: the mother had
parental responsibility under the Children Act; the responsibilities enumerated
in the Act do not encompass the withdrawal of criminal charges against those
alleged to have violated the child’s rights.
[1] Elizabeth
Owuor-Oyugi, the director of the Kenyan chapter of the African Network for
the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN-Kenya),
stated in 2001 that:
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