What Are the Behavioral Signs of Child Abuse?

Child abuse is often perpetrated by a known person, parent, or relative. Adults can also experience abuse.

Childhood abuse can occur in different forms, such as:

• Physical abuse
  • When a child is intentionally injured or harmed by another person, it is called physical abuse.
  • Signs of physical abuse include:
    • Bruises, dark eyes, or rope marks
    • Broken bones, open cuts, injuries, or puncture wounds
    • Broken glasses or physical signs of punishment
    • Individual complaints of being hit, slapped, or mistreated
    • Sudden behavioral changes
    • Burns
• Sexual abuse
  • An intentional sexual activity with the child that may involve sexual, oral, or genital touch or sexual intercourse.
  • The majority of cases are committed by a person known to the child rather than a stranger.
  • Sexual abuse may also involve noncontact sexual abuse such as exposing the child to sexual activity, pornography, sexually filming a child, and sexual harassment of a child.
  • Signs of sexual abuse include:
    • Bruises around the chest region or genital areas
    • Unexplained genital infections
    • Vaginal or anal bleeding
    • Individual complaints of sexual harassment
• Emotional abuse
  • Injuring the child's emotional well-being.
  • Including verbal and emotional assault.
  • Ignoring, isolating, or rejecting a child also falls under emotional abuse.
  • Signs of emotional abuse include:
    • Being emotionally upset
    • Aggressiveness
    • Nervousness
• Neglect
  • Failure to provide for a child's basic needs by a parent, guardian, or caregiver.
  • Neglect can be physical, medical, educational, or emotional. This includes the intentional failure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, affection, education, and medical care.
  • Signs of neglect include:
    • Dehydration, malnutrition, and poor hygiene
    • Unsafe surroundings
    • Lack of medical aids and clothing
    • Inadequate medical care and not taking the medicines prescribed properly

Some children who get strong support and behavioral therapies may come out of physical, emotional, and sexual trauma caused by abuse. However, others may be impacted severely, which can affect their future activities.

Children who experience abuse in any form may witness the following complications:

• Physical complications
  • Physical disabilities
  • Learning disabilities
  • Substance addiction
  • Health problems, such as heart disease, chronic lung disease, diabetes, and cancer
• Behavioral complications
  • Abusing others
  • Anger
  • Illegal or violent behavior
  • Self-injury or suicidal attempts
  • High-risk sexual behaviors or teenage pregnancy
  • Difficulty getting a job or problems at the workplace
• Emotional issues
  • Poor self-confidence
  • Difficulty maintaining relationships
  • Trust issues
  • Inability to cope with stressful situations
• Mental health issues
  • Eating disorders
  • Personality disorders
  • Behavior disorders
  • Anxiety disorders
  • Sleep disorders
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder

It is very important to protect children from abuse.

Child abuse can be prevented by taking the following precautions:

• Listen to your child, encourage them and offer love and attention.
• If you are angry, take pause and relax. Do not respond to your child in anger.
• Do not leave your child alone at home. 
• Know about the adults accompanying your little ones in the school. Ensure your child tells you about all their daily activities, such as where they go and with whom they spend time at school.
• Know about your child's babysitters or caregivers. Make a few unplanned sudden visits to your child's baby-care centers.
• Make sure your child is safe online. Put the computer in the common room and use parental controls to restrict certain websites.

• If a child tells you about abuse, take it seriously and don't dismiss it. 
• To give the child a sense of security, listen to the child and encourage them to explain what they have faced.
• Tell the child that they are not responsible for the abuse.
• Make sure that the child is away from the abuser.
• Counseling and certain behavioral therapies may help the child come out of the situation.
• Because each child is different, the recovery time may vary from child to child. 
• Support the child during the recovery process.