Child abuse shocker for society

Viola Mzungwana
Sexual abuse of children is a health and human rights issue in Zimbabwe and internationally.

As such, a look at a recently unearthed case whereby a man took nude pictures of children playing with his anatomy sent shocking waves across societies.

The pictures taken with the children looking at the camera shows innocent faces who had no idea that they would become stars of a sick act as the youngest known nudists. Sad.

Now in the public domain and with police working hard to track down the culprit a�� for the children ita��s going to be more years of trauma.A� Reports on Wednesday were that a 16-year-old had been arrested in connection with the case of the abused children and was assisting police with investigations.

a�?Those kids are too young and healing will take a while. They need special help so they do not suffer from post traumatic stress disorder,a�? said Juliet Makondora, a psychologist.

She added that the perpetrator was one of those a�?apples gone wronga�? in society. Nonetheless, ita��s not a reason to accept his deeds.

a�?This mana��s behaviour is that of a person who lacks a super ego and can be characterised as being controlled by animal instincts and wants the pleasure principle,a�? she added.

Collective professional help is required to help the children to heal from this setback because the actual level of abuse is unknown since there are only pictures out there to show the abuse.

a�?It is hard because ita��s just pictures, we do not know the state of the children but they should definitely see different specialists,a�? explainedA� Levison Maunganidze, another psychologist.

Thubelihle Mafu the public relations officer of a childrena��s organisation, Voice of Africa, based in Bulawayo said that parents or guardians should closely watch their little ones a�� both boys and girls.

a�?Under normal circumstances children as young as those little girls are bathed by their parents or guardians. The abuse would have been discovered earlier,a�? explained Mafu.

Young girls who are victims of sexual abuse experience physical, biological and behavioural problems that can persist for decades after, a study shows.

Researchers, who tracked a group of girls ranging in age from six to 16 at the start of the study in 1987 for the next 23 years, found that they had higher rates of depression and obesity, as well as problems with regulation of brain chemicals, among other issues, compared to a control group of girls who were not abused. .