How Complete Is Our Knowledge Of Child Abuse?

It is rather unfortunate that in reality, we do not know as much on the subject of child abuse as we claim to know. People who abuse, neglect or psychologically maltreat children are known as paedophiles. They first resort to abstract concepts such as violence, coercion, abuse of power and persecution. Child abuse is a heinous crime and can be placed in the same category as physical abuse, torture and domestic violence.

Our knowledge of this particular act of violence is incomplete and is mainly based on what appears in the media. The media can be termed responsible only when they expose acts of child abuse or paedophilia with the objective of bringing the perpetrators to book. The media, unfortunately, sometimes tends to sensationalise this grave issue by graphically depicting children who are being molested. Child abuse is defined as the physical, mental, emotional, sexual and psychological maltreatment of young people who are at an impressionable age.