Protection of Children's Rights

It is essential to raise awareness about children's issues like child labor. Many children get easily victimized because they do not know their rights and cannot fight for them. As such, adults must ensure that they are treated fairly in society.

Most countries have laws in place to help these younger members of society. We treat anyone who is less than eighteen years of age as a child. We do this unless specified otherwise by the laws that govern that place where he lives.

Why Do Children Need Protection?

Children face a lot of violence in their lives, and also abuse and neglect. They do not realize what people are exposing them to, and cannot fight for their rights because of the force that their family members or other people are putting on them. They may also be too young to know what to do and seek help. People ill-treat children worldwide, and government-run organizations usually check to see if children are being looked after as they should be. Anyone who is mistreating a child can get punished by law. How severely the law penalizes him will depend on what he has done to that child.

What Is Child Abuse?

Physical abuse is not the one kind of damage a child faces. Many people think of it as the only form of abuse. Psychological abuse is also detrimental to a child's mental health. A child feels abused if he is yelled at all the time, or made to feel insecure. This kind of behavior can have a long-term effect on the child's mind. It can lead to depression and anger issues later in life.

A child could also be abused sexually or just neglected by his parents. Neglect is also punishable by law. Parents must look after their children well, so if they ignore a child, the code can punish them, and the child could be taken away by foster care authorities.

All of these factors are called abuse. It is not only parents who might abuse their children, but other people might also do so in the child's environment.

Parents have a legal duty to look after their children well. If they fail to do so, the children could be taken over by foster care or adoption to provide a better living environment.

If parents are not the ones who are abusing the child, they should keep a check on their children to make sure that no one else is abusing them either.

Laws Against Child Abuse

The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act keeps children safe from abuse. Apart from federal regulations, each state also has its specific requirements to protect children. If someone abuses a child, the abuser will get penalized by the law.

What Are The Penalties For Child Abuse?

1. Fines

2. Imprisonment

3. Injunctions

4. Loss of Custody or Parental Rights

5. Restrictions on probation/ parole

The severity of the penalty to the person will depend on the severity of the abuse. But no form of abuse, no matter how trivial it may seem, should be taken lightly.