CONTEST: FORMS OF CHILD ABUSE PREVALENT IN MY AREA. 10% to steemkidss.

Hi everyone,

Good morning to you all. I want to say hallo to all the kids in this community and also to take part in this amazing contest about child abuse. Child abuse is the act of violating children's rights and some of these rights include;

• A right to education
• A right to health care
• A right to protection from harm
• A right to proper nutrition
  And so many others. These rights are very important because they keep the children safe from harm and also help them to grow up well. I am also a child because a child is anyone who is below 18 years old.

Name the forms of child abuse known to you that are prevalent in your locality.

Some of the forms of child abuse known to me that are prevalent in my area include child labour.

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Everyday along the road i see children on the street selling foodstuffs and this happened especially during the lockdown where parents were trying to get money to feed their families. Some of these items include maize, tomatoes, beans, vegetables etc. This is child abuse because it is against the law to make children work.

Another form of child abuse is sexual harassment where there are many cases of children that are defiled or raped and impregnated. This was also made worse by the Covid 19 pandemic. Many girls cannot return to school now because they are heavily pregnant. In my class at school, four girls did not return to school this term because they are pregnant.

Another one is corporal punishment where children are beaten very badly for small crimes for instance, last night on TV, they showed a man who beat up his two sons and put ropes around them, tied them on the poles and didn't give then food for three weeks because they had stolen 500 shillings.

Who is at risk the most, the male or female child?

I think the one at most risk is the girl child even though the boy child suffers alot too. This is because the girls are weak ad can't defend themselves and also the men have higher capability to commit sexual crimes against girls.

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And most times, they threaten them that they should not talk or they will face it rough. The boys are mostly exploited in child labour because they are strongest and can endure more than the girls.

What effect can they have on the kids?

I think because of child abuse, the children like girls can drop out of school and suffer for the rest of their lives. They are seen as immoral children by the society and they begin to judge them and this causes them to have low confidence, some even to throw the babies i toilets. Some can even try to abort and they die from over bleeding.

For the boys, they may drop out of school because of wanting to make money. sometimes even if they stay in school, their grades will drop and they wil doze in class. At the end of it all, they become illeterate and live very low standard lives.

How can the kids avoid them?

Kids can avoid being sexually exploited by reporting all cases of sexual harassment to the concerned authorities. Sometimes even if they are the parents or the caregivers that are threatening them, it is wise to run to the police so that they are protected. If not, they can share the experiences with another close relative. If it is about child labour, children we should learn to work but under the guidance of an adult so that we do not get into difficult situations while we look for money. Another thing is the government should create advertisement to try and inform the general public about the dangers of child abuse and all culprits should be taken to prison so that others can learn from them.

Thank you @steemkidss for this contest. I invite @sheban, @mtasha, @viviandaniella, @madilyn02 to participate.