Child abuse: Who pays for the treatment of the victim?
The Child Protection Services of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital is attending to very worrying cases of child abuse on a daily basis.
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The service also faces the difficulty of coping with victims brought to the service for treatment but whose guardians cannot afford to pay for the treatment, and reports that the Police needs to follow up on cases.
The cases seen at the unit include defilement, including that of infants as young as four months; physical assault, including a father who smashed his son's head against a wall; sodomy and burns caused by women who claim to be douching their babies.
Dr Ebenezer Badoe, the Director of the service, is worried about the trend of events and is calling for action to reduce these cases to a minimum. He is also advocating a clear-cut policy on financing the treatment of victims.
The unit was established on December 7, 2009 and is under the Child Health Department of the hospital. Even though many cases of sexual abuse are seen by gynaecologists, sexual abuse is only one aspect of child abuse.
Caning unacceptable
Dr Badoe explained to the Daily Graphic that the service, for instance, had seen cases of children who had been caned by their guardians until they became unconscious. He said that though that was not sexual abuse, it was a clear case of child abuse.
Dr Badoe has over the years realised that some of the cases of child abuse brought to the service have been the result of some of our cultural practices which cannot be accepted today. He again cited the instance of caning, which used to be the order of the day, but cannot be accepted today and called for action to stop it. He explained that it was not only hurting children physically but emotionally.
According to Dr Badoe, most defilement cases were often seen by gynaecologists but he thinks that there is also the need for the training of more doctors and nurses who would be able to pick up the indicators of children who have been abused and give the appropriate treatment and follow-up requirements such as documentation of the cases to help the police to prosecute offenders.
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Currently, the service appeals to specialists like surgeons to carry out surgery on victims who need it but whose guardians are not able to afford it. But this situation, Dr Badoe says, cannot be happening in a country which wants to develop.
Funding needed
“ For how long can we continue like this? There must be a way of funding the treatment of such patients”, he said.
He is therefore calling for a clear-cut policy to deal with the issue, especially funding for treatment and shelter and training doctors and nurses. He thinks that social services in the country must be strengthened because it is crucial for the protection of children.
Dr Badoe also says it seems easier for institutions and individuals to fund events like sports because of visibility but adds, “ a country which does not take care of its children is doomed. What kind of country could we be building?”
According to him, “ we have to accept that there is a problem and deal with it.”
He said there was also the need for children to be taught to be assertive in order to be able to refuse adults who want to take advantage of them and advised parents to take another look at their parenting strategies.
His advice is the result of his experience from the events that have led to cases of child abuse. He cited the example of a mother who left her three-year-old child at home without anybody attending to her and returned to find a man defiling her.
In most of the cases too, Dr Badoe has found that those who abused the children were those who were known to them. Some of the cases too have been domestic violence-related. He told the pathetic story of a woman who was in a dilemma because she was married to a very rich man in the country who had been defiling her daughter but could not expose him because of the goodies she was enjoying.
Since the motive of the perpetrators of child abuse can sometimes be so hard to understand, Dr Badoe is of the view that the right thing to do is to put in measures to protect children from it. However, should it happen, the children should not be short-changed in the kind of medical treatment they receive.
Writer’s email: doreen.hammond@graphic.com.gh