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

QUESTION 8What should be done when adults mistreat children?Just as it did with children, this question plungedmany adults in a dilemma. It raised the fundamentalquestion; were they willing to speak out againstother adults on behalf of children? Many adults feltconflicted about the issue and in discussions manyparticipants were not willing to commit themselvesto a single option. The anxiety appeared to be thatspeaking out against the mistreatment could createdisharmony amongst neighbours and communitymembers and that it would create an onus to actunder many common circumstances. Most adultscould readily describe an instance of mistreatmentthat they had witnessed that they had not doneanything about.Although many of the respondents said that theadult should be held accountable, a significantnumber (36.6 percent) said that, regardless of howadults mistreat children, no action should be takenagainst them. Two thirds (23.9 percent) of thosewho chose no action believed that adults knewwhat was best for children, and one third (12.7percent) said that anyone could make a mistake.These rationales for inaction explicitly articulateon behalf of a significant minority what earlierresponses subtly implied: injustice against childrendoes not matter or matters less.Figure 3.19 Adult’s suggested response to childmistreatment, by role of respondentsHeld accountableNothing, adults knowwhat is best for childrenNothing, anyonecan make a mistakeOtherI don’t know020 40 60% of respondents80 100Part Three Adults’ Rationale 87