It is a sad reality that despite improving living standards child abuse is still present in some families. Child abuse is more than black eyes, broken bones and bruises. Emotional abuse and neglect are perhaps even more common. A fair society has an obligation to empower its professionals who are in contact with children to curb this abuse.
The publication of a draft Child Protection (Out of Home Care) Bill has given rise to a healthy discussion among those who in some way or other care for children as part of their professional work. These include doctors, nurses, teachers, social workers and other professionals who are in contact with children in their daily work.
The Maltese Paediatric Association has made some very valid suggestions on how the draft legislation can be improved to ensure that children at risk of being abused are indeed protected.
Today, professionals who come in contact with children are not legally obliged to report abuse or neglect to the Child Protection Services that falls under government support agency Appogg. This practice exposes abused children to unnecessary risk.
The 2012 Protection of Minors Act obliges anyone who works in “a relevant entity” to report abuse to the police. A relevant entity could involve “the education, care, custody, welfare of upbringing of minors”. So doctors and nurses who do not work in such institutions are not covered by this definition.
The new Bill now makes it mandatory for professionals who come into contact with children to report the abuse. This is certainly a positive development. But this provision needs to be improved in the sense that professionals who deal with children should be protected from legal liability when such concerns are not substantiated.
While one has to assume that professionals would always act in good faith, it cannot be ruled out that if a report on a suspected abuse turns out to be unfounded, the life of the alleged abuser can still be in tatters. The social stigma associated with a real or perceived child abuser is very damaging indeed.
On the other hand, child abuse, especially of the emotional type, can be subtle. It is just as damaging as physical abuse but its symptoms are more difficult to detect.
Emotional abuse can severely damage a child’s mental health or social development, leaving lifelong psychological scars. So it is vitally important to empower professionals in tackling all kinds of child abuse without the fear of being prosecuted if their well-meant reporting to Child Protection Services turns out to be unsupported.
A dissertation by lawyer Daniela Azzopardi Bonanno provides a pragmatic solution to the dilemma of linking responsibility to the duty of professionals reporting suspected child abuse. The solution, she says, has to be based on “proper training to ensure professionals recognised abuse and did not report frivolous cases”. This also means better conditions for those working in the caring professions as society generally takes their services for granted.
The banning of physical punishment on children is another positive step in the protection of children from abuse. Spare the rod and spoil the child philosophies belong to the past. Education is the secret of success in improving the quality of care that parents, guardians, and others who have responsibility for raising children should promote.
Parents who abuse their children may believe that children need to fear them in order to behave. Only education can contribute towards eradicating this warped mindset.