According to data from the Ministry of Interior, in Spain about 4,000 children were victims of abuse in the family in the year 2015. In addition, between the year 2013 (first year from which official records are held) and November of this year 23 children have died due to gender violence. Figures, no doubt, chilling.
Is work of the whole society to stop this terrible scourge, but among the main agents capable of detecting a possible case of child abuse are pediatricians. Therefore, the Committee on Children and Adolescents of the Congress of Deputies has recently approved a Proposal No of Law promoted by the Popular Group and the Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics (AEPap) that defends the role of pediatricians in the centers of health as key professionals in the detection of possible situations of abuse against minors.
The children, silent victims
Battered women are direct victims of sexist violence, but there are also other victims those who too often are excluded without reason or are not given voice: minors.
Children living in a violent environment are in turn witnesses and direct victims from this scourge that society as a whole must help eradicate.
According to government data, 64.9% of women who have suffered abuse have minor children, and according to the Violence Against Women Macro-Survey conducted in 2015, 63.6% of women who suffer sexist violence say that their children have witnessed some situation of abuse and of them, in 64.2% it has also suffered .
In the group of social agents capable of detecting child abuse (school, police, family environment ...), the pediatrician becomes a key figure at the time of giving the alarm voice.
In many cases, pediatricians are important trusted figures for children and during their first years of life the relationship established with them is usually based on affection and closeness.The closeness and trust between the pediatrician and the child is what may allow the professional to detect a possible case of violence, not only through physical recognition, but also through dialogue and observation of their behavior.
"The pediatricians of the health centers are in direct contact with the minors and the families and, therefore, we can and must detect and know first-hand the problems children face, giving the alarm and activating the appropriate mechanisms in cases of risk"- notes Dr. Concepción Sánchez Pina, president of the AEPap
Detection is the first condition that must be met so that the pediatrician can intervene in these cases and enable the child to be helped. But nevertheless, it is not always easy and obvious for the medical professional to detect a case of abuse, since the signals can be multiple and do not have to be limited exclusively to blows, bruises or other sequelae derived from physical abuse.
Not surprisingly, Dr. Narcisa Palomino, vice president of the AEPap and child abuse specialist admits that of every 1,000 patients who have a pediatrician, between 10 and 15 suffer abuse but "only 10% of cases can be identified" .
As pediatricians explain, the most common family abuse are negligence translated into lack of food, cleanliness or neglect, followed by psychological abuse such as insults, verbal violence and threats to the child.
Abuse always leaves its mark and the consequences that children subjected to it can suffer are very numerous:
"From physical consequences, derived from intentional trauma (bruises, fractures, genital lesions ...) to psychological consequences (depression, anxiety), functional symptoms (headaches, sleep disorders or loss of sphincter control), behavioral disorders and decrease of school performance ”- warns Dr. Palomino.
Nor should we forget sexual abuse as another form of violence against children within the family. Some statistics indicate that up to one in five children under 18 have suffered some type of sexual violence, in an isolated or repeated manner in which the aggressor belonged to the child's near environment in 75-80% of cases (biological father, mother's partner, grandparents, brothers, uncles, family acquaintances, trainers or monitors).
"A child who is assaulted by a manifest person, whether verbally or not, who is terrified of that person. To identify all that, one must be trained and you have to trust the child's word, because that shadow that is many times in our head on the possibility that it is a lie does a lot of damage "
"The minors do not lie. We can be bothered by what they say but we must listen to them and their opinion must be taken into account" - said Dr. Palomino in words collected by the Herald of Aragon
This Proposal No of Law supposes an important step in the protection to the minor
Therefore, the Children's Commission of the Congress of Deputies He wanted to recognize the role of Primary Care pediatricians in the fight of the whole society against any form of mistreatment towards children in the family environment, approving a Proposal No of Law.
Dr. Sánchez Pina stressed that it is a great step to fight against this great social problem, but it has encouraged political groups to continue working so that said Proposal No. of Law translates into laws "that offer adequate protection standards to children victims of these situations throughout Spain, and do not remain on wet paper".
This Proposal No. of Law approved by Congress joins the State Pact against Gender Violence unanimously approved last September, which includes 213 measures to combat sexist violence and that also includes protection measures for children who are victims of violence.
It is important that the whole society unite to defend the minors of this terrible scourge, taking pertinent steps to extreme the measures of protection to the childhood.IStock Photos
Via AEPap
In Babies and More Child abuse produces brain changes, State Pact against Gender Violence: we summarize the main measures in favor of women and their children, Some brands are never removed: shocking campaign against child abuse, Sexual abuse also It is child abuse (and there are many types), One in five children is a victim of sexual violence: keys to prevent it, "I feel that my children are invisible": this is the drama of children of abusive parents, and tells us a mother
