Child abuse is reported or spoken about every day. These crimes can and do have a serious impact on the life and development of a child for a long time. Often they continue to impact them later in life.
There will be signs of child abuse especially of the sexual kind even though at times they are not easy to spot. This is why the first step to protecting any child is for you to learn these signs. An important reason is that abusers will not speak of or will hide their actions as much as possible.
Some signs are
Physical
The most obvious signs will be bleeding and this is one big red flag. A child bleeding from any part of their body and especially their private parts is not something to be ignored. Also, if the child is suddenly flinching to the touch, this is a sign there is something wrong. However, any signs of trauma to the genital area are not something to ignore as is any unexplained bleeding or blood on the bedding, underwear, or other clothing.
Sometimes, and this does happen, there is an obvious sign the child is developing a sexually transmitted infection (STI). This is a big, big, red flag.
Note that children will sometimes have unexplained health problems such as stomach aches and head aches, refuse to go to school and start having frequent nightmare and fear being left alone at night. Usually, it will be something that can be solved quickly and is not damaging but do pay attention when this starts happening and eliminate the worst.
Behavioral
Children use body language quite a bit and most times you will pick up from this language. Actions as they say, speak louder than words. Other times you will pick things up as you talk to them. This is why it is so important to spend time talking and listening to children in you care or that you care about.
Normal talk can veer from things that are funny, cute and very surprising. However, excessive talk about or knowledge of sexual topics is a red flag. You need to find out why. Also, when a child that used to be very talkative and suddenly stops talking as much as usual and even starts keeping secrets, be alerted.
Sometimes they will start refusing to go to visit certain homes, or just refuse to be left alone with certain people or start becoming clingy. When they start being afraid to be away from anyone who is a primary caregiver, especially if this is a new behavior, be on the alert but don’t panic.
Sometimes all of a sudden, they will start doing things they stopped or grew out. Like, sucking their thumb or fingers and or wetting their bed and over complaining. This is an indication of stress and do not shame them or tell them that they are being a “big baby”. Find out why they are behaving the way they are all of a sudden.
Instinct
There are certain times when the signs will come from your antennae, which are your own instincts. If you know the child very well or even if you do not, sometimes your invisible alarm bell will ring.
Sometimes it can be that the child you know as having good eating habits suddenly changes their eating habits. Or, a child that was very sunny becomes sullen or has become very aggressive. This change in mood or personality, if it rings alarm bells do not ignore it.
Sometimes they will start doing things that are suspect for their character or age. Such as showing advanced sexual behaviors or just being overly accessible. Children will normally rebel and test boundaries so when they start being overly compliant consider this as a red flag. Trust your gut and don’t ignore your feelings if something seems off.
Listen to your instincts and if you notice something that isn’t right or someone in a child’s life is making you uncomfortable, even if you can’t put your finger on the why it’s important to trust your gut, continue to watch for signs of abuse.
More importantly if a child, any child tells you that someone makes them uncomfortable, even if they can’t tell you anything specific listen and do not just brush them off.
