Karen Abdel Nour wrote in “Nidaa Al-Watan”:
Streets full of executioners. As for them extending to nurseries, this is a lot. What was leaked two days ago from behind the walls of one of the nurseries in Al-Matn raises the question: Do we need to redefine the concept of safety from its origin? Open abuse. And abused children. “I sold my son to foster care a year ago, when he was 3 months old. We don’t have anyone to put down. How can a god of a heart do such a thing to them?” So one concerned mother tells us. An issue with many dimensions. Parents on the one hand and custody on the other. Children are the weakest link in the equation. But the issue, many fear, is just the tip of the iceberg of disrupting an integrated social system.
As soon as the video of the abhorrent violence spread, “the resurrection took place and did not sit.” “We put the blood of our hearts in order for our children to be brought up on social foundations, and at the end they will be abused… an indescribable feeling when you see your son being hit on the head when your voice is not heard at home.” Talk to parents Pierre Moussa and Manal Khoury about the abuse there in that nursery. Some demanded that the nanny, Jenny Helou Khoury, be subjected to the most severe penalties, while others expanded “Picard” responsibility to all concerned parties, the first of which is the Ministry of Health. There are those who held the woman responsible for leaving her children at the mercy of nurseries in order to fulfill her practical ambitions. They warned against having children unless the mother had the ability to raise them. Opinions and opinions. Feminist movements, in turn, quickly warned against seizing opportunities to unleash male hatred and practice patriarchal flogging to consolidate the nurturing role of women. It is true that we do not have the data of people’s circumstances, but we do have the ability to control the withholding of our judgments from others. But what is remarkable, regardless of the “intercourse” that invaded social media, is that the 10-month-old girl used to wake up at night to bouts of crying and screaming of unknown cause. Ibn al-Sunnah was violently slapping his father. The topic is not the son of his watch, it seems. Has anyone thought of these? We call them the voiceless victims. Victims of a crime described.
Heed the signs
from where we start? Doctor of Clinical and Pathological Psychology, Elie Abu Chakra, summarized in an interview with “Nidaa Al-Watan” the psychological repercussions resulting from the ill-treatment that we witnessed for children. From the appearance of signs of fear on them, to their exposure to nightmares and the inability to sleep, as well as the suspicion of the other and the limited ability to interact with others. In addition to that, the psychological impact engraved by the obscene words that were uttered on their ears. But how can parents notice that their child is being subjected to similar treatment? “Sometimes it is normal for a child to cry when parents start taking him to daycare. However, if the situation persists for a long time, the parents should be alert to the existence of fears other than the normal ones related to the separation of the child from them. And the matter does not stop at the extension of time, but it transcends it to the point of fear as well. A child who cries normally before going to the nursery is different from the one whose temperature rises and he experiences symptoms of terror when he looks at the nursery building from the outside,” he explains.
The aggressor, Abu Shaqra, described her as a sadistic woman who enjoyed torturing children, losing control of her mind and nerves, while the others were laughing with her without moving a finger. He pleaded that the employees should be subjected to a psychological and educational examination before being allowed to approach the children. “Dealing with children under three years of age is more difficult than teaching at universities, due to the accuracy of the stage and its centrality in terms of building the child’s personality.” Abu Shakra drew attention to a scene shown by one of the recordings, in which the boy hid his head when the teacher approached him, which indicates that the incident is not instantaneous and a “bad manners”, but rather a chronic pattern through which children are dealt with. As for the parents, especially those who consider that the nursery prepares the child for school and helps him with social integration, he indicated that the child has no ability to interact with others before the age of a year or a year and a half. “Unless the circumstances that necessitate the woman’s presence at her work are compelling, I advise her to stay with her child at least until the age of one year, with the distribution of roles between her and the father. Otherwise, what is the benefit of working when the salary is spent on the costs of the nursery and the psychological treatment of the child?” Abu Shaqra wonders at the end.
Today’s abuse… Tomorrow’s contract
The leaked abuse video reopens the file of events in Lebanon in general. A specialized judicial source renewed the voice through the “Nidaa Al-Watan”, considering that this reality, which suffered from many problems and obstacles even before 2019, had reached a state of total deterioration after the successive crises reflected on it. The situation is not reassuring, especially since the results will begin to appear after a decade, when the outcome of what we are living today will crystallize in the generation of tomorrow. But what about nurseries specifically? “The Ministry of Health must play an active role through its supervisory bodies to inspect licensed nurseries and take action against unlicensed ones. As for the judiciary, the judiciary played its role immediately, whether through the Public Prosecution, which prosecutes the perpetrator of the crime, or through the juvenile justice system, which protects the minor. The juvenile judge in Mount Lebanon, Joel Abu Haidar, issued a decision to close the nursery until the completion of the investigation, instructing an association to do what is necessary to verify whether the rest of the children were subjected to the same practices, ”the source answers.
The juvenile judge has full authority to protect abused children in the nursery, follow up on them, treat them, and help them overcome their psychological state through all available frameworks (especially after what we have heard about the suffering of some children psychologically). However, the radical solution to avoid these practices of all kinds is only through drawing up a plan and clear frameworks, especially since there are many associations, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and programs that deal with the issue. “It is not required to organize conferences, but we want an application on the ground. The projects are many, but the problematic is the correct and effective implementation, which requires the launch of a comprehensive plan through the juvenile justice system and each of the ministries of justice, social affairs, education, health and the interior, to mitigate future damages.
Sanctions and vigilance
For his part, Charbel Abi Nader, head of the Specialized Nursery Owners Syndicate, denounced what happened, calling for the most severe penalties for anyone who abuses children physically, verbally or psychologically. He expressed his regret at the inefficient recruitment that nurseries are currently facing, due to the severe shortage in the number of specialized nannies with high degrees, as a result of the crisis that afflicted Lebanon. In order to reduce similar incidents, the union signed about a month ago a cooperation agreement with the Union for Juvenile Protection (UPEL) to protect children from violence in nurseries, and training courses for employees will start starting next week. He adds, “It is not without the possibility of a delinquent child being present in every family, but this should not be reflected in other specialized nurseries. This necessitates that we remain alert to our homes and nurseries – even the good ones – and monitor their staff. We urge the Ministry of Health to intensify inspection visits to nurseries and to complete all their duties in this regard.
to enforce the agreements
And we ask more. How does the expert on child rights issues, Dr. Elie Mikhael, see the way to improve the reality of nurseries in Lebanon and save innocent victims from the clutches of some of them? In an interview with “Nidaa Al-Watan”, he answers the need for every nursery to have a “child protection policy” that defines the behavior of responsible individuals and workers within it and obliges them to adhere to it by signing contracts under penalty of accountability. This policy also includes a code of conduct through which staff members are checked and whether they have bad precedents so that children (who are socially vulnerable groups) are not exposed to direct violation by those responsible for their care and protection. As for the government, and although the decree establishing nurseries – issued in 2004 and amended in 2010 – limited the responsibility of following them up to the Department of Maternal and Child Health in the Ministry of Health, all concerned parties (from the Ministry of Social Affairs to the Supreme Council for Childhood, the Union for the Protection of Juveniles and others) must intervene When the matter turns into a violation of the child’s right.
Are there future solutions? “What happened two days ago would prompt the state to work seriously on the correct governance of nursery homes and set up mechanisms at the national level, not only with regard to the issue of protection against violence, but also with regard to educational and health aspects, the quality of life within the nursery, and the provision of quality services,” he notes. Mikhael. The child protection system is integrated and must have its own infrastructure, full apparatus and officials within the ministries, as neither the state nor society can resign from their role.
Moreover, the need for the state to have the institutional capacity to monitor violations and follow up on nurseries on a regular basis – especially since Lebanon has previously ratified the International Convention on the Rights of the Child and participated in all conferences that called for the prevention and protection of children from violence – is no less important. “We are a society that adopts the values of protection, but what we lack is the implementation and follow-up of the implementation of laws, the establishment of a special infrastructure for protection, the training of the working staff, and the definition of work policy within the institution in which the child lives, in addition to defining the procedures against any violator.”
There are many questions, and what happened two days ago opens the doors to most of them. The two abusers are under investigation. And the Ministry of Health wants to subject the children in that nursery to a medical examination after withdrawing the license from it. These are all required topical procedures, of course. But here, as in other cases, we are faced with a microcosm of a comprehensive reality in which violations are as numerous as the spectators.
2023-07-12 03:38:39
#narrated #parents #abused #children
