Physical, Sexual and Emotional Child Abuse

Running Head: Summative Assessment 2- Project 1
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT 2- PROJECT 1

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Summative Assessment 2- Project 1
Responding to the quotes
Any intentional harm to a child under 18 years is called child abuse. There are
different symptoms of physical, sexual and emotional child abuse. Physical abuse
symptoms are unexplained injuries or bruises. Sexual abuse symptoms include statements
about sexual abuse or sexual infection. Besides, symptoms of emotional child abuse include
depression, refusal to go to school or low self-esteem (Collin-Vézina, De La Sablonnière-
Griffin, Palmer & Milne, 2015). There are different forms of disclosure that children and
young people adopt to disclose abuse. As stated by Cukovic-Bagic, Welbury, Flander,
Hatibovic-Kofman & Nuzzolese (2013), children who are exposed to abuse generally make
ambiguous statements or change their behavior. Older children disclose by harming
themselves like suicidal attempts. Responding to the disclosure can be done by giving the
affected child full attention and maintaining a cool and calm appearance. The child must be
motivated to say his or her own words and enough time should be given (Aifs.gov.au, 2019).
Adults must avoid making fake promises at this point in time.
Recording procedures in case of child abuse include making notes about
observation; recording can be done by talking more with the child by respecting
confidentiality. Moreover, reporting can be done to registered medical practitioners, youth
and child justice workers and psychologists (Betterhealth.vic.gov.au, 2020). Reporting can be
done by providing details like a child's name and age, indicators of abuse, description of
injuries and recorded information. Under mandatory reporting legislation in Australia,
generally, a medical practitioner enrolled nurse or any authorized officer of care service can
report regarding the abuse (Aifs.gov.au, 2017). Different laws like Child and Young Person
Act 1998 (NSW), Protection of Child Act (2007) (NT), Child Protection Act 1999 (Qld) have
provisions regarding this matter. Duty of care must be exercised by all adults and different
professionals regarding reporting cases of child abuse or any neglect. This includes

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Summative Assessment 2- Project 1
healthcare workers, registered psychologists, and justice workers. Moreover, it is essential for
school and other authorities, who take care of a child, to exercise their duty of care to protect
a child from all sorts of abuse (Collin-Vézina et al. 2015). Child-focused work practices
must be nurtured by providing adequate funds and recruiting more early childhood
professionals. They can work on behalf of children and their families. This can help to reduce
the issue of child abuse and better protection and be given.
It is important to select an appropriate process of data collection regarding child
abuse. According to Saltiel (2016), the survey is an effective process of data collection and it
can be used to understand the intensity of abuse on children. A questionnaire needs to be set
for gathering data and children can be selected through a random sampling method. As this
process may affect the reputation of families in which selected children belong,
confidentiality needs to be maintained. According to the Data Protection Act 1988 of
Australia, people are bound to respect the privacy of others. Based on this fact, the
confidentiality of collected data regarding child abuse needs to be maintained.
It is a wise decision to contact and work collaboratively with authorities that are
concerned on child abuse. For example, in Australia, there are several organizations including
the Department of Family and Community Services, Child and Youth Protection Services,
Department of Child Protection, Territory Families and others (Aifs.gov.au, 2019). These
organizations may help to take immediate action after getting the report of child abuse. It is
possible to protect the basic rights of children with the help of these authorities. On the
other hand, Singh, Parsekar & Nair (2014) have mentioned that increasing awareness in
parents regarding the harmful effects of child abuse can help to protect children's rights as
well.
Ethical guidelines and codes of the country must be reviewed while working on
child abuse. Appropriate information regarding the purpose of investigation must be shared