​Abuse Definition
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Physical: Any deliberate action occurring repeatedly that causes injury or pain such as hitting, burning, choking, shaking.
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Emotional: Anything that would impact on the normal psychological development of a child caused by persistent or severe emotional ill-treatment or rejection.
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Sexual: is the purposeful engagement in sexual acts with a child or in the presence of children.
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Spiritual: is linked with other forms of abuse and could be defined as an abuse of power, often done in the name of God or religion.
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Neglect: choosing deliberately not to give basic physical or emotional care such as food, shelter, medicine, care, clothes.
It is vital in this day and age to understand the problems of abuse and harmful cultural practices that are in our communities and how we can take positive action to prevent them and deal with them.
The Problem- remember that the numbers and statistics below represent children, each with their own story, their pain and trauma.
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UNICEF estimates over 50% of children in Africa experience some form of physical, emotional, or sexual violence every year.
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In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 3 in 4 children experience violent discipline by caregivers.
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Africa has the highest percentage of child neglect in the world having 41.8 percent of girls and 39.1 percent of boys.
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According to UNICEF, 125 million women currently in Africa were married before their 18th birthday.
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Female genital mutilation has been inflicted on over 200 million girls and women in Africa that are alive today in 30 different countries of Africa.
We have seen and experienced the benefits and challenges that arise in raising and protecting children and the vulnerable in the rich and diverse cultural continent of Africa. This is what we are doing to create an answer to the problems:
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Raising awareness of abuse and safeguarding among ministry leaders and teams
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Facilitating training on safeguarding and life skills
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Nurturing dialogue around discipline
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Providing resources to serve individuals and YWAM bases in protecting children and the vulnerable
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Offering pastoral care and counsel in response to allegations of abuse
All it takes for evil to triumph is for the righteous to sit back and do nothing.
