DUBAI // The emirate recorded 26 child abuse cases in the first nine months of this year, an increase from 21 in the same period last year.
Speaking at the launch of an awareness campaign, Brig Mohammed Al Murr, director of Dubai Police’s human rights department, said that the issue of child abuse was serious, despite the low number of cases.
“A healthy family is a healthy society and to be in an abusive situation can be extremely traumatising,” he said.
“It is important to note that abuse is not just physical but can also be verbal and psychological.”
He said the awareness campaign was a precautionary measure that targeted children between the ages of 4 and 14, their parents and teachers.
While 26 cases were recorded, there were 37 complaints of child abuse lodged through September. This was in comparison with 54 in the period last year.
All cases involving children are handled by the child and women protection department at Dubai Police.
Moza Al Shoomi, director of the children department at the Ministry of Social Affairs, said schools had a responsibility to keep an eye on children and report any unusual behaviour.
“A child spends most of the day at home or at school, which is considered their second home,” she said. “The school should inform the authorities if they think a child is being abused at home or suffering from neglect.”
Parents not sending their children to school is another form of abuse, Ms Al Shoomi said.
“Even though the child is not being hit and doesn’t have bruises on his face, denying him his basic right to an education is another form of abuse,” she said. “If a child is absent from school for a long period of time, it is the school’s responsibility to ask about that child.
“It could be that parents did not send their children to school to hide bruises.”
Hamda Lootah, director of Dubai Modern Education School, which is taking part in the awareness campaign, agreed that the school had a role to play.
“Educating parents plays a big part in raising awareness,” she said. “We had a case in which parents were hitting their son because they did not know how to get him to calm down.
“We called them to come to the school and explained to them that the child was completely normal but was hyperactive. Hitting him was not the way they were going to get him to behave.”
Dubai Police, in collaboration with several schools in the emirate, will hold activities for parents and children to learn more about child abuse and the dangerous effects it has on children.
They will also use social media and send text messages to raise awareness about the issue.
dmoukhallati@thenational.ae
