CHILD MOLESTATION

Molestation is a crime that involves sexual act with children up to the age of 18 including touching of private part, taking of pornographic pictures, incest or unwanted sexual act by a relative or rape.
Child molestation occurs every second of everyday and it saddens my heart that most molestation cases go unnoticed for a very long time till it has done an irreversible damage to the child.it is very important to be aware of your children's actions and the behavior of those around your children.

I heard a story from my mum about her friend whose child(a girl)was molested by her(my mum's friend)nephew. She always left her daughter with her nephew ahome each time she was going to work. After 3months of the boy's stay in her house she started noticing her child was becoming withdrawn but she didn't really pay attention to this until one day when she was bathing the girl and she was in so much pain that my mum's friend checked her vagina only to see blood and bruises. She confronted and threatened the boy who out of fear told her how he used candle stick, his hand and penis to penetrate her. Mind you this went on for weeks.
Was it the mother's fault?
Could she have done better?
Could she have been more vigilante?
Was she too busy for her child?
What could she have done to prevent this?
These were questions that ran through my mind when I heard this.

A molester could be your friend,relative,nanny or a total stranger.they carefully construct devious processes to increase access to their victims and decrease the likelihood of discovery. A Child molester don't always appear evil or monstrous. Most of them are charming and warm their way into your home or heart which makes you let you guard down before they strike. This is why it extremely important that parents and schools teach/educate their children or ward about molestation so they get acquainted with the language and technique of molesters. You should be wary of people who seem overly interested in spending time in your home and with your children with or without you.

HOW CAN YOU PROTECT YOUR CHILD FROM MOLESTERS
There is no fool proof way to protect your child from sexual abuse but there are steps you can take to reduce risk of molest.

• Be Involved In Your Child's life
  Being actively involved in your child's life can make warning signs of abuse obvious and also make your child confide in you at all times. Always show interest in their day to day lives. Get to know people in your child's life. Choose their care givers carefully.

-ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILD TO SPEAK UP
When a child knows his voice will be heard and taken seriously, it gives him courage to speak up when something isn't right

Teach your child how to talk about their bodies.teach them the names of their body parts.

Teach them about boundaries. They should know no one has the right to touch them or make them feel uncomfortable.even their parent siblings or friends.

Most perpetrators use threats as a way of keeping children quite about abuse.let your kid know they won't get in trouble if they confide in you, no matter what they need to say

WARNING SIGNS OF ABUSE
Physical signs

• Bruises or swelling in genital area
• Bloody or torn under cloth
• Difficulty walking or sitting
• yeast infection
• pain in genial area

BEHAVIORAL SIGNS

• develop phobias
• has trouble in school such as a drop in grade
• night mares or bed wetting
• inappropriate sexual knowledge
• shrinks away from physicals contact
• overly protective and concerned for siblings
• returns to regressive behaviors such as thumb sucking
• withdrawal
• exhibit signs of depression and often seen crying

Being a parent isn't an easy job. You are your child's guardian. So please be vigilant. There are bad people out there and you children depend on you to protect them from these monsters.