Child abuse: Bahrain's experience

Abstract

IntroductionCruelty to children has existed as long as humanity existed. The way children are treated has alwaysbeen a faithful mirror reflection of the level of progress in the civility of mankind. Child abuse permeatesthrough all cultures and societies, from the West to the East (deMause, 1998; World Health Organization,1997).Infanticide was practiced in China and other parts of Asia for centuries (Breiner, 1992; Coale B Pitt & Bale, 1995). Before Islam, female infanticide was widely practiced in the ArabianPeninsula; with the dawn of Islam, the practice was clearly prohibited by the Quran “when if one of themreceiveth tidings of the birth of a female, his face remaineth darkened, and he is worth inwardly. He hidethhimself from the folk because of the evil of that whereof he hath had tidings (asking himself): shall hekeep it in contempt, or bury it beneath the dust. Verily evil is their judgment” (the Bee Surah, the HolyQuran). In the year 900, the Rhazes, the eminent physician, attributed the prominence of umbilicus andhernia in children to “the child may be intentionally struck.”Thus, child abuse is not a new phenomenon in this part of the world. Recently, there have beenfew reports from this region addressing child maltreatment (Al-Ateeqi, Shabani, & Abdulmalik, 2002;Al-Ayed, Qureshi, Al Jarallah, & Al Saad, 1998; Al-Eissa, 1991; Al-Jumaah, Al-Dowaish, Tufenkeji,& Frayha, 1993; Al-Mahroos, 1997; Al-Moosa, Al-Shaiji, Al-Fadhli, Al-Bayed, & Adib, 2003;Al-MugeirenGDoraiswamyAEl-Hait,Moosa,VKattan,1994; Kattan, Sakati, Abduljabbar, Al-Eisa, & Nou-Nou, 1995). However, this paper reports the largest