The UAE’s new child protection law, popularly known as the Wadeema law, makes it obligatory for residents and school authorities to flag cases of abuse or mistreatment of children by anyone, including parents. Children are a precious gift from God and they have every right to be protected from all kinds of abuse, be it physical, mental, emotional or sexual, but it is important moving forward to highlight forms of abuse and what constitutes abuse considering the number of cultures we encounter in the country.
As a responsible resident of this country and a passionate advocate of children’s rights, I believe it is important that everyone understands their rights to report matters of abuse to the authorities. Children have equal rights to not to get neglected, mistreated or ignored. When it comes to who should be the one taking care of children, the state and the school come only second with the primary responsibility of shielding and safeguarding children from problems and providing them with a secure environment to grow and thrive falls on parents. When these parents themselves become abusers, children are left behind with no one to turn to for emotional or moral support.
Matters of sexual abuse or not providing a child with life’s necessities like food and schooling are serious offences. Those are difficult to identify by an ordinary citizen and are best left with the authorities. But there are scenarios that might be disregarded even though they are detrimental to the children’s wellbeing and emotional health.
How parents deal with children, especially in matters of discipline, greatly depend on cultural norms, religious practices, parents’ lack of knowledge or ignorance, their financial situation and even their own stress. What is expected of children also greatly varies in different cultures, societies and even families.
Something that might seem normal in someone’s culture might be shocking to another. For example, reporting a neighbour after seeing dark red marks from beating their 12-year-old son’s arm, which he casually mentions as beatings with a metal hanger by his father. Or, a colleague who locks her seven- and three-year-old at home during school holidays when she and her husband go to work as they cannot afford babysitting. What about a distant relative who is acting against a doctor’s advice and not ready to allow a necessary surgery for their child out of fear due to lack of proper knowledge?
I wonder how these nuances can be incorporated into the application of the law keeping in mind the best interests of the children and also the entire family at large. I admire the work being done by the UAE authorities to further protect the children in this country and the challenges that it presents. Making the public aware of how to handle these situations will only help matters.
- The reader is a home maker based in Abu Dhabi.