Violence against children, the voices of Ugandan ... - Raising Voices

esearch.Children’s Conception of ViolenceIn almost every discussion it was apparent that children conceptualised violence as a way in which many adultsrelated to them and something that made them feel bad about themselves. They tended to use examplesto illustrate the meaning of violence rather than a conceptual definition. When the concept of violence wasexplored through different methods, the following ideas consistently emerged.1. Violence is about how adults make you feel bad. In a variety ofcontributions, when probed to clarify what made an act violent,children talked about residual feelings of anger, fear, shame, andhumiliation.Violence against children is when big people make you feelbad by doing bad things to you.13-year-old girl, Wakiso2. Violence is about bad things adults do to you. Most oftenchildren talked specifically about what adults did to them. Whenasked, “What is violence against children?” they gave examples ofpersonal experiences.It is when my father shouts at me all the time even forsmall mistakes.9-year-old boy, Apac3. Violence is about what adults don’t do. Children also gave examples of omissions and neglect as acts ofviolence, such as being ignored or excluded from the family.My stepmother never talks to me or teaches me anything. She ignores me as if she doesn’tnotice me at all and gives me sharp looks if I do something that she doesn’t like.8-year-old girl, Iganga4. Violence is wrong. Children expressed a clear judgment of violence as wrong. Each story of sustainedviolence carried indignation and the belief that the adult ought to have known better.It is not right to make a child walk four kilometres with a heavy load to sell things at the market,especially on a school day.15-year-old boy, KasesePart One Research Design 11