Reducing Impact of Child Abuse

628 Words3 Pages
Assessment of strategies to reduce impact of child abuse: There is a four-tiered approach in terms of the Jamaican government strategy in dealing with child abuse. These treat most children who would be at risk or have suffered child abuse. The first key area has to do with child protection and this aims at strengthening the main parts of the child protection system and greater coordination of various players within the sector. There also has to be more efficient and stronger referrals systems among the agencies so that if abuse or an abusive situation is suspected, then reports can be made to the necessary bodies and follow-up don to prevent exacerbation of the situation. A thorough examination of the effectiveness of the child protection section will provide the basis for formulating a child protection system action plan. The second key area of the four-pronged approach involves an improvement of the ‘quality and delivery of psychosocial services and community based intervention for particularly vulnerable children’. This appr5oach would also include the provision of mental health care for children who are wards of the state as well as measures to protect children in emergencies and ‘early response services for child sexual abuse’. The second main part of this approach- the psychosocial approach would be an encouragement to discipline children in a more positive way, a discouragement of any forms of violence against children, a cultural change in the way children are treated including a total elimination of corporal punishment. It can be clearly seen therefore that this aspect relates to children who are in greater danger of sexual abuse than those for whom the first step would be relevant. The third tier has to do with rehabilitation and re-integration and is aimed at those who have already suffered child abuse and /or children in state care facilities or who
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