Hello readers, It’s been a long time since my last post: so much has happened to turn my life upside down – future posts will expand on thoughts re that.
For today, I want to express my outrage and intense disappointment at what should be one of the basic principles of our civilisation: the safety of our children.
I have in my practice a little girl aged 3, whose extensive birth trauma has left her with probable minimal brain dysfunction, and definite behaviour problems. The child and her mother now live with another man, but the biological father has maintained contact. A few months ago, based on recurring bruises, the possibility of child abuse was raised. This led to an investigation at our local children’s hospital, which is internationally renowned for its work with children, and in particular for its involvement with child abuse centres and services. Whilst no child abuse could be proved, the case remains open.
This little girl is now in hospital with a broken leg. In view of this, yesterday morning I called the children’s hospital in question, to ask for some more background information . Well, I tried the listed number in the book plus five other numbers listed on the various child abuse websites : NOT ONE CALL WAS ANSWERED.
What is the point of raising public awareness of the problem, forming fancy dedicated units, pouring funds into them etc, if the entire system collapses because the phone is unmanned? What would have happened if I was calling to get help for a new emergency case?
Coming back to this little girl : was this truly an accident? Is this an escalation of concealed/unproven child abuse? Will she not be so lucky next time? Will it be rape, or even death?
A charge of child abuse is a very serious matter, and cannot be made lightly. Even if the charge can be 100% disproved, the fact that it was made at all has a huge psychosocial impact on the entire family. The question will always remain unanswered in the minds of those who know of the family, and the whispers will always be there. And the person laying the charge will never be forgiven by them, regardless of the fact it is done out of concern for the child’s welfare.
And so my dilemma remains : does this child need protection from abuse, and how can this best be done? I do not have the training or resources to do this myself and the advertised help centres seem “unavailable or unreachable”.
© Anna G. Hall
Hi, I hear your frustrations and as a worker in the field understand first hand how they have arisen. This most vulnerable group of society are so unrecognised and unprotected, largely I feel simply because some people just do not want to know. Keep strong.
Colleen
Hi Colleen, thanks for the comment, and my deepest respects for what you and people like you do, in these most difficult situations. As an ex-social worker, I saw first-hand the ravages of child abuse, both short- and long- term, and those memories stick for a lifetime. I still don’t know how best to help this little girl – other than keeping regular contact with her mother. My concern is that the mother may be so influenced by the boyfriend that she is not admitting the possibility that he may be abusing her child. Keep up the good work. Anna.