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

QUESTION 3Have you experienced emotional violence?Emotional Violence:Any act or interaction in which the adultintentionally attacks children’s feelings, withholdsaffection from children, or undermines children’sopinions of themselves, and, as a result, adverselyaffects children’s self-confidence. 7Figure 2.4 Types of emotional violenceexperienced by children, as per sex ofrespondentsShoutingInsultingThreateningOf all the forms of violence reported, childrentalked most emphatically about the impact ofemotional violence. They talked about the rageand intense sense of injustice it provoked withinthem. Many children declared in indignation thatphysical pain would be preferable to a constantassault of threats, insults, and humiliation.GlaringEmbarassingIgnoringDenying love andaffectionOther0MaleFemale20 40 60 80% of respondentsIt is better that he gives me two canes, insteadof letting me sit in fear all the time and bylooking at me with fire in his eyes.12-year-old girl, WakisoOf the children consulted in this study, 98.2 percentreported having experienced emotional violence,such as shouting, insulting, threatening, glaring,or embarrassment. In regard to frequency, 36.5percent of the children reported experiencingemotional violence at least once a week, and 16.7percent said they experienced it “everyday.” 8 Asto where the violence occurred, 42.6 percent of thechildren said they experienced emotional violencemainly at home; 21.2 percent said mainly at school;and 35.5 percent said at home and at school.Acts of omission, such as withholding love andaffection or exclusion from discussions, wereaimed at children who were expected to respondto a subtle form of emotional punishment. Forexample, children with perceived higher status intheir families, such as boys or in-school children,reported being ignored or denied love with higherfrequency. On the other hand, humiliation or actsmeant to provoke intense emotional reactions,such as being publicly berated or locked out of thehouse, were aimed at children who were alreadyseen as a “disappointment.” Thus it appears thatadults choose the emotional punishment theyinflict on the child deliberately based on the levelof injury it was likely to cause to the specific child.Children who had a lower status in their families,such as girls or out-of-school children, reportedbeing shouted at and insulted with higherfrequency. They were also more vulnerable toincidental and random emotional violence andwere more likely to be a scapegoat for no apparent7See note 4.8See note 5.22 Part Two Children’s Experiences