ABU DHABI // Prosecutors are receiving more reports of physical or sexual abuse of children as public awareness of the issue grows.
Some initial reports do not result in a prosecution and cases of physical assault declined last year, but the number of sexual abuse cases rose.
There were 59 cases of sexual abuse of children last year compared with 47 in 2013, while the number of cases of non-sexual physical abuse fell from 44 to 28, said Mohammed Al Dhanhani, head of the family prosecution service in Abu Dhabi.
Most children became victims of sexual abuse because of a lack of parental supervision, Mr Al Dhanhani said. He described the case of a boy, 9, who reported that he had been molested outside his home at 10pm.
“Why was he alone at that time?” Mr Al Dhanhani said.
He said allowing children to share a bed with others or go swimming without parental supervision also put them at risk.
“Many parents leave their children in the swimming pool and assign the housemaid to watch. The maid could play a minor role in observing the children but she is not enough.”
Mr Al Dhanhani said that of the 59 cases of sexual abuse last year, 15 were committed by domestic staff and 12 by labourers. Homes, schools, parks and buses proved to be ideal places for those who prey on children.
In 2013, parents topped the list of child attackers with 19 cases, followed by six domestic workers.
Prosecutors hold mothers responsible for any abuse committed against their children, even if they argue that they assigned maids to watch them.
Other factors that put children at risk included exposing them to their parents’ intimate relationships, nudity and pornographic media.
“Sometimes youngsters see their family watching soaps and films containing obscene scenes, so they think this is acceptable since their parents are watching it.”
Social media and video games that contain nudity or stripping of characters are a “time bomb”, he said. “The child will think this is OK since it was in a game.”
Exposure to inappropriate media also tempts teenagers to molest younger children: there were 11 teenage molesters last year.
Any child under 14 years of age is considered a victim in sexual cases, even if the act took place with their consent.
“We always check the mobile phone of the teenage defendant first thing in prosecution, and indeed we find pornographic pictures and films saved there.
“So if he wanted to imitate what he watched, where could he go? He won’t be able to harass those older than him so he would abuse younger victims.”
Another factor could be peer pressure to prove he is a man, Mr Al Dhanhani said.
“In crime and punishment science we learnt that a juvenile does not commit a crime alone, he always commits it with his peers to prove his manhood to them.”
Parental negligence has also caused a number of child deaths: there were 31 cases of parents unintentionally causing the death or injury of their children in 2013, and 18 last year.
Many parents prosecuted for physically beating or injuring their children claim they did it to discipline them, said Mr Al Dhanhani, but the right to discipline did not involve severe beating.
In many cases, one parent beat the child to upset the other parent or get back at them.
Many housemaids have been prosecuted for attacking children while babysitting as they use beating as a method to control and discipline.
Mr Al Dhanhani was addressing employees of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department to raise awareness among parents about child abuse.
hdajani@thenational.ae
