Return to site

Learn About Child Abuse

broken image

Child abuse is defined as the physical, mental, and/or sexual abuse of anybody who is below eighteen years of age. In most states, anybody who is below eighteen years is considered a minor. Some states consider the age of minors to be below sixteen. A lot of people expect abuse on children to be inflicted by strangers, but it is saddening that parents, friends and other close relatives are the ones who inflict the abuse. In some states, child abuse is considered to be different from child mistreatment or maltreatment. A child is considered to be neglected or maltreated if their parents or guardians place them in harm’s way. This can be due to failure to provide education, shelter, food, clothing, and any medical assistance they may need. A lot of children who are neglected have parents or guardians suffering from substance abuse. However, this is not in any way an excuse for child abuse. Read more now to learn further.

You need to hire a child abuse lawyer if you suspect that a child is being abused or neglected. Physical abuse is injury inflicted on a child with malicious intent. It consists of acts such as punching, grabbing, burning, kicking, biting, or any other activity that may inflict physical harm on a minor. Child abuse can also be emotional or mental. Mental child abuse occurs when a parent or guardian does acts that impede the psychological development of a minor. Such include making threats of sexual or physical nature, making demeaning remarks, name-calling, taunting, and even forcing a minor to watch the physical abuse of other parties. Child sexual abuse is any act of sexual nature towards a child. This is because minors cannot consent to sexual abuse by law.

There are a lot of legal consequences of child abuse and neglect. Some of them include jail time, fines, and/or parental restrictions or denial of custodial rights. Legal consequences are determined by the extent to which a child is abused and, whether the acts are first-time or repeat offenses. Parents who commit child abuse have to contend with a limitation of their parental rights for the safety of their children. If there is a child you suspect is being abused in your area or school, get in touch with child abuse lawyer, as this could mean life and death for them. Most of these lawyers are provided by the government, and you do not have to worry about the cost of hiring one. Even those in the private sector are affordable because of the severity of child abuse. See this page to gain more ideas.