Marjo Affourtit also sees that tensions at home are increasing. She is a pediatrician in social pediatrics at Erasmus MC and affiliated with the National Expertise Center for Child Abuse (LECK). As a result of the measures that lead to many family members being at home, she is especially concerned about the emotional abuse. “The irritation and screaming in the house are increasing. We see that children are more likely to witness domestic violence, also a form of child abuse.”
In addition, Affourtit receives signals from the LECK and Veilig Thuis, the advice and reporting center for domestic violence and child abuse, that the seriousness of the abuse is increasing. She herself also saw more fractures than bruises for a while, although she does not want to directly relate to corona. “It may also be that we are now more alert than before.”
Aagje Smits, work supervisor at the Safe Home Rotterdam Rijnmond crisis team, sees that reports about child abuse have become more complex. According to Smits, this is because the abuse can continue for longer because there is less insight into families, the stress increases and you cannot easily ask for help at school, for example. “Professionals have less insight into families or systems, which can lead to considerably more violence.”
Schools open
Since February 8, children are allowed to go to primary school again. Last week, the secondary schools also partly reopened. Good news, according to pediatrician Affourtit, because then possible abuse can be detected early. “In addition, this gives children a safe place back, it relieves the parents and reduces the level of irritation in the house.”
Nevertheless, the concerns remain because young people in secondary schools and MBO institutions in particular can only attend school for a limited number of days. According to Smits from Veilig Thuis, the schools must soon be open again five days a week. “You have to imagine that children and young people are in a situation where it is unsafe, where violence takes place. They are constantly in a tension that they cannot get out of,” she says. “School is a safe place for them where they do not feel that tension for a while. It is also a place where they can ask for help.”
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