Difficulty: The Different Forms Of Child Abuse

Child abuse occurs when a parent or caregiver, whether through action or failing to act, causes injury, death, emotional harm or risk of serious harm to a child. There are different forms of child abuse with the most notable four being physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect (NSPCC, 2009); however Childhelp (2015) have included exploitation as a fifth form of abuse. Child neglect is rather an act of omission, the failure to provide for the child’s basic needs. Abuse often leads to a marked change in behaviour or emotional state not explained by known stressful events in a child. As a result of abuse, a child can exhibit unexplained depression, anxiety, fearfulness, aggression or withdrawal, self-harm behaviours, running away from home or, unexplained absence from school (Al Odhayani, et al., 2013). This greatly affects the learning abilities and development of a child as it misses out on school time, develops a lack of interest in school, loses concentration in class and limited friendships. Difficulty in learning can be a result of abuse for complex reasons; much of the child's energy is directed toward surviving the abuse and coping with stress leaving little energy for learning or other typical childhood activities. In order to show how abuse affects the learning of a child, three forms of abuse namely physical, sexual

A child under sixteen years is considered in law incapable of providing consent to sexual intercourse, although in practice may be involved in sexual contact to which, as individuals, they have agreed. The child's consent is irrelevant at this age and the law considers it sexual abuse. The adverse effects of sexual abuse may endure into adulthood. The severity of impact on a child is believed to increase the longer the abuse continues, the more extensive the abuse, and the older the child (Korbin,