A ground-breaking survey providing the first national snapshot of child abuse in the Emirati community was released yesterday, a local newspaper said.
The survey of 2,939 pupils by the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children (DFWC), found that while verbal abuse was the most common form of maltreatment, they also reported physical and sexual abuse at home and school. Three per cent said they had been subjected to a specific form of physical, sexual abuse at school “sometimes”, while 0.7 per cent reported it had happened “frequently”, Abu-Dhabi-based The National newspaper reported.
Two per cent reported a specific form of sexual abuse at home sometimes, and 1 per cent frequently.
Maj Omar Al Ali, of the Ministry of Interior’s Leaders and Innovation Centre, said the numbers of pupils reporting extreme abuses were low, but action was needed.
The draft child-protection legislation was approved by the federal Cabinet in November and awaits approval by the FNC.
The data was collected during the 2011-2012 school year from Emirati pupils in government schools, most between the ages of 10 and 18.
Social workers travelled to schools in all seven emirates, using an Arabic document adapted from the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, it said.
The survey asked children whether they had experienced each type of mistreatment “sometimes” or “frequently.” For example, 19 per cent said they were slapped at home sometimes, while 5 per cent said it happened often.
The pupils also reported physical abuse at school, whether from peers or adults. About a fifth said things were thrown at them at school sometimes, while 5 per cent said it happened often.
The study also calls attention to the need for therapeutic programmes for child abuse victims, it added.
The children were asked who had abused them, but many chose not to answer. In general, most children who identified a perpetrator said it was someone they knew, according to the National.
Source: WAM
