What to Do If Your Child Tells You He/she Has Been Abused

Child abuse is serious matter and we can't open a newspaper or we find some terrible news about this item. You will understand that it is terrible to hear from your child if he or she is abused. There are different kinds of child abuse: sexual abuse, physical or psychological abuse. In most cases when your child comes to you they talk about sexual abuse. It is important that you believe your child because children rarely lie about such terrible crime which happened to them.

Mostly children don't tell this terrible news to their parents because they are afraid or they are ashamed to talk about. It is also possible that the abuser threatened the child if he or she will tell this to their parents and that something should happen with them. They first talk about what happened with a friend or someone else they know and can trust. It happens very frequent that the parents hear this terrible news first from someone else.

When your child comes to you and tells you that he or she is been abused it is best that you go to another room and listen carefully. Don't interrupt your child when he or she is telling her story. Your first reactions are important however; hearing such news will give you always a shock. It is important that you stay calm and show that you are very understanding. Try to understand that your child is afraid and every sign of being angry with him or her can give the effect that your child stops with talking about what happened.

It is best that you don't ask details. Disclosing all these facts that happened is really difficult for your child and you need to show your support to help your child. Express your feelings with your child and even crying can help. Tell your child that child abuse is not their fault but a crime of the abuser.

When you have listened to your child it is also time to give some advice. Teach your child the "say no" rule to strangers. When a stranger wants to touch parts of the body of your child it is important that you teach your child to say "no" if this should happen. Your child will feel uncomfortable and it is necessary that your child say immediately "no" or "stop with touching me".

Your child needs to be aware that some parts of the body are private and nobody has the right to touch these without the permission of your child. Tell your child also that they warn you if something happened. However, these signs don't mean always that the stranger wants to abuse your child; they can't be carefully enough for preventing this. This rule is not only when strangers touch your child but also when members of the family will try to do this. Child abuse can happen as well by strangers as members of the family.

When you talk with your child it is best that you ask them some questions how they should act in certain circumstances. What should you do if as stranger ask you to go in his car? What should you do if you got lost? These are a few situations where you need to give some advice and ask on regularly times the same questions. It is important that you teach your child the ropes of preventing the risks of child abuse and with repeating these questions regularly your child will understand the need of these skills.

When your child is sexually abused it is best that you consult a doctor to examine what happened and how to treat it. It happens very often that not only the physical problems need to be treated but also the psychological effects. In some cases professional help of a psychologist can be necessary. They can help with overcoming the trauma after they are abused.
It is also necessary that your report the child abuse to the police. It is not only important for the abuse that happened to your child but for preventing that the abuser will do the same with other children.

It happens very often that also the parents of abused children need help. It is really terrible to hear that such thing happened with your child and they need professional help. There are many groups in almost every country of the world who support family help in such situations. Child abuse is terrible and talking can help for knowing how to deal with all these problems in case this happened with your child.

It is for everyone important to pay attention on child abuse. There are useful websites to find with useful information and it is best that you are informed about preventing and how to deal with these problems in case such things happened with your child. Nobody can predict the future and if you are aware about the consequences of this problem; you have the necessary knowledge how to deal if your child tells you that he or she is abused.

Don't underestimate the consequences of child abuse!