What is Abuse?
Sometimes adults and older youth can do things that you don’t want them to do to you. They know that this is wrong which is why they tell you to keep it a ‘secret. If someone is doing something to you that hurts you or makes you feel sad then you should tell an adult that you trust .
There are different people that you can talk to such as your parents, teacher, school guidance counsellor or any other adult that you have a good relationship with who can help you.
If you don’t feel ready to talk but you want what is happening to you to stop then you could always write a letter and give it to someone that you trust to read.
Sexual Abuse
Sexual Abuse is when an older youth or adult:
- Makes you touch private places on their body or they are touching your private places, whether they are wearing clothes or not
- Intentionally engaging in sexual activity in front of you and/or not taking precautions to prevent exposure to sexual activity by others
- Encouraging you to take part in any sexual activity
- Showing you images of others involved in sexual activity
Sexual abuse can happen to both girls and boys of any age.
Most sexual abusers know the child they abuse-they may be family, friends, neighbors or babysitters.
Physical Abuse
This is when a person does something to you on purpose that causes physical pain.
This includes slapping, pinching, punching, pushing, throwing objects at another person, using an object or anything that brings about physical pain or discomfort to you.
The effects of physical abuse causes minor injuries such as a black eye or a bruises but can also cause longer lasting effects .
Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse makes you feel worthless, flawed, unloved, or endangered. This can be done by:
- Rejecting: refusing to acknowledge a person's presence, value or worth
- Isolating: placing restrictions on contact with others
- Denying emotional responsiveness: being detached and uninvolved; interacting only when necessary; ignoring a person's mental health needs; denying affection such as a hug
- Placing a person in dangerous situations; threatening to hurt a person or his/her loved ones; setting rigid or unreasonable expectations
Emotional abuse does not leave physical marks but can be just as harmful as physical abuse.
Neglect and Maltreatment
Neglect is the failure of a parent, guardian, or other caregiver to provide for your basic needs. This can be done in diffenert ways such as:
- Physical (e.g., failure to provide necessary food, shelter, or lack of appropriate supervision)
- Medical (e.g., failure to provide necessary medical or mental health treatment)
- Educational (e.g., failure to educate a child or attend to special education needs)
- Emotional (e.g., inattention to a child’s emotional needs, failure to provide psychological care, or permitting the child to use alcohol or other drugs)
