13 Things You Can Do As A Parent To Protect Your Child From Sexual Abuse!

Children are abused more often by people they know, than strangers, though yes, stranger danger is a valid thing. How do you protect your child from abuse?

After we become parents our life mainly centers around our kids. We do everything possible to give them the best possible life we can. We love them and care for them more than ourselves. We pray to God to give whatever happiness is in our share to our kids and whatever sufferings are in store for our kids, to us. Our heart bleeds to see even a minor scratch on our kid’s body; such is the love of parents for their children.

Nothing can be more heartbreaking than seeing your child suffer mental or physical pain because of being abused by someone a stranger, a family member, a teacher, a doctor, a friend, a cousin anyone can be the monster in the guise of a human being who can leave your child’s mind scarred forever.

Follow some easy tips to fight against child abuse:

1.Make sure you are leaving your child in safe hands (when you can’t be with them).

2.Tell your in-laws and your husband if they are looking after your child, not to leave them with anyone else, even a domestic help or any neighbour even for a minute.

3.If you have to leave your child in a day-care, ensure you can access their video cameras from your workplace to monitor your child. Give random surprise visits to the day-care centre to check how they are treating your child behind your back! If you find anything fishy in the day-care, immediately take a stand and tell them firmly but politely.

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4.If your child is old enough to understand ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch’ tell them openly and clearly about it, and encourage them to open up to you about any misbehaviour by anyone.

5.Don’t let the chacha, mama, taauji, (uncles) bhaiya (cousins), etc cuddle and show extreme affection to your child. Make any excuse and take your child away from them. Don’t let anyone take your child out for a walk, for buying snacks, for watching a movie, etc. even if you have full trust in that person.

6.Don’t ever let your child play in an isolated place with anyone, even in any part of your house like roof, garden, room, etc.

7.It might be a good idea to abstain from an excess of PDA with your partner in front of your child as they might think that’s usual behaviour by/ with anyone.

8.Talk to your child about their private parts, and to maintain privacy while using the washroom.

9.Let your child watch age-appropriate entertainment, and discourage them from anything not ok for their age.

10.Be your child’s strength; talk to them and encourage them to talk with you about everything, so that they feel comfortable and confident to open up to you. Let your child feel free to expressing themselves to you- narrating both the pleasant as well as unpleasant experiences to you every day.

11.Try to identify any paedophiles around you – they can be anyone, and could be people you have trusted. People who are generally very sweet, friendly and nice to kids showering them with love, affection, and gifts very often need to be kept under suspicion.

12.Listen to your inner voice when it comes to the safety of your child.

13.Observe your child; if they don’t want to go with any particular person Don’t force them! Listen to, and trust your child if they are saying anything.

I wish and pray for all the kids of this world to be safe always. But knowing that this world isn’t actually a safe place for our kids we must ensure we are taking all possible measures to keep our kids safe.

Stay alert and give your kids the comfort and understanding that they need in case they suffer some form of abuse. Tell them, it wasn’t their fault, and that they can always rely on you whenever they need support. Every problem of this universe can be solved with lots of love and compassion.

First published here.

Image source: Shirish Mulmuley / CC BY-SA

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