Sidra Child Advocacy Program has urged parents to ensure safety of children from all forms of abuse, especially during the summer holidays.
Child abuse, especially sexual abuse of children, is perpetrated by adults they know and trust. During the holidays when there are lots of visitors, it is important for parents to teach their children to immediately tell them about any inappropriate behavior, stressed Dr. Nadeem Jilani, Medical Director of the Sidra Child Advocacy Program. “Parents should teach their children that it is never ‘ok’ for anyone to touch their private parts, hug or kiss them in a manner that makes them uncomfortable even from relatives, family friends, the nanny or driver, let alone strangers. They should be taught to say no and tell their parents immediately. We also recommend that children should not be left alone with another adult for a long time and parents should keep checking and talking to the child,” he added.
The Sidra Child Advocacy Program has a dedicated Child helpline 40034000 on which the public or children themselves could call and report abuse or seek advice. This service is currently manned by trained professionals on week days during office hours of 7am to 3 PM. After that, a message can be left with some identifying details so that a member of the team can call back on the next working day to enquire and discuss the case.
“In case of a child being in imminent risk of harm, we strongly recommend calling the police or going to the nearest paediatric Emergency Department. Our emergency department has a senior physician on call to provide advice and take referrals related to child abuse concerns from all healthcare facilities, schools and other government stakeholders, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Dr. Jilani told The Peninsula.
The Sidra Child Advocacy Program was envisioned as a one-point referral centre for all cases of suspected child abuse cases across Qatar, to help streamline the support systems and minimise the stress to the child and families (by eliminating the need for multiple interviews and examination of children in different places) and also to ensure confidentiality of such sensitive information.
“The programme arranges necessary investigations and offers medical examination of victims as well as treatment if required to limit or eliminate the risk of any infection or other possible complications. It also delivers Outpatient Clinic follow-up and offers support through liaison with other partner agencies such as the Aman centre or the Ministry of Interior,” said Dr. Jilani.
He added that increased financial stress, time commitments and noisy children can stress out some parents in a way that they resort to physical violence against their children during school break time.
“Some parents who can’t afford child care leave younger children in the care of their older siblings during holiday time. This is a very risky situation and we have seen children coming to serious harm due to lack of adequate adult supervision. Please reach out to family or close friends to seek help if you are struggling with child care during school holidays,” he said.
According to Dr. Jilani, there are some common symptoms and red flags including the child suddenly becoming withdrawn or shows changes in their personality; becomes more aggressive; exhibits sexualised behaviour for example touching or rubbing private parts, kissing on the lips, or shows knowledge of ‘adult issues’ that you do not expect children of younger age to know; running away or goes missing for longer hours; getting uncomfortable or scared in presence of any relative or familiar adult; any pain or bleeding from private parts; and any unexplained bruising or mark on the body (in absence of any witnessed fall or minor accidents).
Abused Children, often exhibit signs of post-traumatic stress and require counselling to improve their self-esteem.
“Our Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) has a team of dedicated mental health professionals who provide counselling to support these vulnerable children and their families. We also have a team of Social Workers who provide assessment of the social situation, conduct forensic interviews of children and support families that are struggling,” said Dr. Jilani.
