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Child abuse is close to my heart for a number of reasons. Everyday I come in to contact with those who are either abused, or have been abused, by family relatives, friends and even parents. No, im not a top notch shrink. Im a college student studying childcare in Great Yarmouth. Its close to my heart because I was abused by my brother, who is epileptic. But I had the confidence to make it stop by going to live with my father's family at the age of 9, instead of living with my mothers family were I was left to my own devices in Wales. A place I didn't understand in the least at the age of 8. I don't know how long it went on for, or even when it started, I only know that its over, and any who want help or advice can pm or email me. My e-mail is strangebuttrue@myself.com . I listen to any and all problems, no matter how personal or horrific. Here are some examples I have com across in my search for child abuse.
Two-year-old boy in Prawet When a woman, who lived in the Prawet area of Bangkok with a three-year-old son, gave birth to a second baby, she gave the infant to her paternal grandmother to raise. When the boy was two, the mother became quite ill, so she had the child's father bring the boy to stay with her, in order to be close to him.
The woman, who was eight-months pregnant, regained her health. At this time, a Foundation staff member went to visit her upon receiving a report that she was cruelly abusing the boy, who had bruises on his face and scars from being scratched, pinched and pricked with a needle. When asked for the reason for her son's injuries, she said the boy had stumbled and fallen against the floor.
The staff member tricked the woman by saying that he already knew the whole truth from the police, whereupon she admitted injuring her son. She said it was because he would often call for her and bother her while she was under stress and in the late stage of pregnancy. She said she was not suited to raise baby boys that this child was interfering with her good fortune (literally, the stars).
She had left a former residence two months ago when she received the boy because the neighbors had called the police to have her arrested for abusing him. The staff member asked to take the boy to hospital for care. The child held the staff member's neck tightly, without daring to turn around to look at its mother.
While the staff member was carrying the child out, neighbors who had been observing the situation came out and surrounded them, expressing their happiness for the child. Some raised their hands in the traditional Thai sign for respect and cried, "Amen!"
Some had tears in their eyes while they expressed their happiness. Some said they felt as if they had fallen into hell when they saw the child being abused, that it was so cruel that they suspected that the baby wasn't really the child of this husband and wife.
Some said they managed to watch while the parents were cruelly mistreating the child. They reported that they saw the child being repeatedly swung and cast on the floor, hurled against the wall, and being hit on the head by water bowls, clothes hangers and cooking pots.
If the child cried while the mother was stringing flower garlands, they said she would hit his head and body with her stringing needle. When he was being hit, the child would always cover him mouth with his hands while his mother would be constantly threatening, "If you're not quiet, I'll hit you until you die."
Sometimes the boy was struck so hard you could hear him cry. Sometimes he was locked out of the house while his parents and sister were sleeping inside; he would stand and cry, trying to open the door, but his mother would refuse to open the door for him to come in. One could hear the boy's mother scold him, "How unlucky I am! Since your birth I have had nothing but trouble with you!"
Girl in Nahorn Province The mother of a girl from Nahorn Province died with she was three and her father took her to live with relatives. She began living with an aunt and an uncle who was younger than her father. They were alcoholics and when she was 10, they began beating her with bamboo sticks and coat-hangers, hitting her with the dull side of a heavy kitchen knife or other utensils, and pinching and scratching her.
They said the beat her without reason because they were drunk. They did not allow her to sleep near other members of the family.
She had to wash dishes, do the laundry, take care of the younger children, and make the beds. She also had to cut, twist and weld metal, presumably for a small home business, normally working past 1 a.m.
Finally she fled to a friend's house where she phoned her father and asked him to come get her. Instead, her father called her uncle and she had to return to his home for more abuse.
Upon hearing of this situation, Foundation staff met with the girl's aunt who refused to cooperate. Staff members then negotiated an agreement with the aunt and uncle at the local police station. The girl had scars on her head where she was hit by a knife blade by her aunt, and there were wounds, scratches and marks on her arms and face made by a spatula as if her skin had been scraped.
The girl was quite willing to be taken in for care by the Project. Once at the Foundation home, she was well-behaved but performed at an average to poor level in school because of the effects of the abuse.
Racheal Shanks · Tue May 24, 2005 @ 06:38pm · 2 Comments |
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