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What is Child Abuse?
Reporting Child Abuse
What happens if your family is reported to CAS?
FAQ
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Child abuse is when a child is hurt intentionally, or when a
parent or caregiver fails to protect a child in their care. It is
against the law.
There are different kinds of child abuse:
Physical abuse is any deliberate physical force or action (usually
by a parent or caregiver) that results, or could result, in injury
to a child. It can include punching, slapping, beating, shaking,
burning, biting or throwing a child. It’s stronger than what’s
considered reasonable discipline.
Sexual abuse occurs when a child is used for the sexual
gratification of an adult or an older child. Coercion (physical,
psychological or emotional) is intrinsic to sexual abuse. This is
what distinguishes it from consensual play with peers.
It’s against the law for an adult or older child to:
- touch a child in a sexual way
- encourage or force a child to touch another person in a
sexual way
- encourage or force a child to participate in any sexual
activity
- tell a child to touch him or herself for an adult’s or older
child’s sexual purposes
Sexual abuse of children can take many forms. Examples include
sexual intercourse, exposing a child’s private areas, indecent phone
calls, fondling for sexual purposes, watching a child undress for
sexual pleasure, allowing a child to look at, or perform in,
pornographic pictures or videos, or engage in prostitution.
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Emotional abuse is a pattern of behaviour that attacks a child’s
emotional development and sense of self-worth. It includes
excessive, aggressive or unreasonable demands that place
expectations on a child beyond his or her capacity.
Such acts include constantly criticizing, teasing, belittling,
insulting, rejecting, ignoring or isolating the child. This kind of
abuse also includes failure by a parent or caregiver to provide
their children with love, emotional support and guidance.
Neglect is failure to meet a child's
basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, sleep, medical attention,
education and protection from harm. This can occur when parents
don't know about appropriate care for children or are having extreme
financial difficulties and need assistance.
In addition, young
children should never be left unattended. This includes leaving a
young child in a car alone, with or without the doors being locked
even if only for a short time.
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