Assessment of mandatory reporting laws to break the silence of child sexual abuse: a case study in the United Arab Emirates

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Mohammed AlMatrooshi ◽  
Syed Raza Shah Gilani ◽  
Bahaudin G. Mujtaba
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Mandatory Reporting ◽  
Reporting Laws

Factors in Sexual Abuse of Children

1986 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 591-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Curtis
Keyword(s):  
Substance Abuse ◽  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Family Dysfunction ◽  
Mandatory Reporting ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Present Discussion ◽  
Reporting Laws

Despite current attention to ostensibly widespread sexual abuse of children less emphasis has been directed toward identifying factors which might contribute. Accountability of professionals under mandatory reporting laws in many states now requires protection of children against inadvertent or calculated varieties of abuse. The present discussion lists factors such as family dysfunction, psychopathology, substance abuse, social ineptitude, withdrawal, and isolation, history, and psychosocial stresses and crises, which may be used to estimate the likelihood of sexual abuse of children. While determination of physical and mental abuse, neglect, endangerment, and abandonment were not the focus of the present discussion, these varieties of child abuse seem correlated with the conditions under which sexual abuse occurs. Attention to these factors—applied together with clinical intuitions and other relevant sources of information—might help professionals make more accurate assessments from which possible incidents of child sexual abuse might be averted.

Using a Multisectoral Approach in Tackling Child Sexual Abuse: Lessons from a Zimbabwean Case Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noel Muridzo ◽  
Victor Chikadzi
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Child Survivors ◽  
Integrated Service Delivery ◽  
Improved Outcomes ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Role Players ◽  
Areas Of Concern

Child sexual abuse is one of the prevalent social ills that affect children in Zimbabwe. In response to the problem of child sexual abuse and the need to mitigate its adverse effects, Zimbabwe established the Victim Friendly System. The Victim Friendly System is a multisectoral forum made up of social workers, medical doctors, nurses, the police force and role players within the justice system such as magistrates, prosecutors, counsellors, educationists and psychologists. These professionals offer distinctive but complementary interventions to child survivors of child sexual abuse. This paper discusses the merits and lessons gleaned from using the Victim Friendly System as a multisectoral forum to tackle child sexual abuse. In researching this phenomenon, the study adopted a qualitative approach and data were collected from 38 participants and 4 key informants selected using theoretical and purposive sampling respectively. A total of 300 court files of child sexual abuse cases were also reviewed. The findings that emerged from the study show that a multisectoral approach to dealing with child sexual abuse provides the benefit of integrated service delivery. Improved outcomes for victims of sexual abuse as well as streamlined, effective and efficient operations for organisations that form part of the Victim Friendly System were also evident. This notwithstanding, the paper also discusses some areas of concern that could potentially affect how the Victim Friendly System multisectoral arrangement works. The lessons that emerged from the study provide some insights that are useful in informing guidelines for multisectoral arrangements.

Bioethical Issues and Secondary Prevention for Nonoffending Individuals with Pedophilia

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (02) ◽  
pp. 264-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
AINSLIE HEASMAN ◽  
THOMAS FOREMAN
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Secondary Prevention ◽  
Prevention Programs ◽  
Mandatory Reporting ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Sexual Abuse Prevention ◽  
Abusive Behavior ◽  
Considerable Research ◽  
Bioethical Issues

Abstract:Child sexual abuse is a global problem with significant emotional, psychological, and financial implications to victims, perpetrators, and society. Most child sexual abuse prevention programs target young children or those who have already engaged in abusive behavior, in order to prevent further offending. There are numerous secondary prevention programs targeting individuals at-risk of various health conditions in an effort to reduce the likelihood they will go on to experience a particular illness or disease. Considerable research exists regarding the risk factors for engaging in child sexual abuse and more specifically the factors contributing to reoffense. We argue that engaging in secondary prevention programs for people with pedophilia, in order to prevent child sexual abuse, is an ethically responsible and necessary practice. Secondary prevention programs with this focus are reviewed, along with the implications of mandatory reporting in doing this work.

scholarly journals Religion after the Royal Commission: Challenges to Religion–State Relations

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Kathleen McPhillips
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Mandatory Reporting ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Royal Commission ◽  
Internal Governance ◽  
State Laws ◽  
Governance Systems ◽  
State Relations

The findings and recommendations emanating from the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2012–2017) have advised religious organisations that they need to undertake significant changes to legal, governance and cultural/theological practices. The reason for urgency in enacting these changes is that religious organisations were the least child safe institutions across all Australian organisations, with poor practices of transparency, accountability and responsibility coupled with a tendency to protect the reputation of the institution above the safety of children in their care. In Australia, new state laws have been enacted and are impacting on the internal governance systems of religious organisations, including removing the secrecy of the Catholic confessional, instituting mandatory reporting of child abuse by clerics and criminalising the failure to report child sexual abuse. Religious organisations have moved to adopt many of the recommendations regarding their troubled governance including the professionalisation of religious ministry; adoption of professional standards; and appropriate redress for survivors and changes to religious laws. However, these changes signal significant challenges to current church–state relations, which have been characterised by positioning religious organisations as special institutions that enjoy exemptions from certain human rights legislation, on the basis of protecting religious freedom. This article examines and evaluates the nexus between state and religion in Australian public life as it is emerging in a post-Royal Commission environment, and in particular contested claims around the meaning and value of religious freedom versus the necessity of institutional reform to ensure that religious organisations can demonstrate safety for children and other vulnerable groups.

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