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ViolenceIn Our Homes ...Against childrenChildren are utterly dependant on the others in their homes. The violence that children experience, usually at the hands of adults, is a painful illustration of the fact that children are the most powerless members of society. Children never choose to be victims of or witnesses to violence but are often are, and often survive even extreme violence with creative and inspiring resilience. What is childhood violence? The Canadian Centre for Justice Studies says that:
The betrayal and trauma experienced by survivors of abuse is extremely complex and has impacts that long outlast childhood. Inherent in this type of abuse are secrecy, boundary violations and abuse of power that cause these children to experience feelings of complicity, guilt and fear. These feelings affect their core beliefs about themselves. Children also respond to being exposed to violence in their home, such as violence toward their mother, siblings, or pets. They may internalize the anger and violence through anxiety or depression, or externalize it by being aggressive themselves. They may suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. How children are affected by witnessing abuse depends on whether they are also abused and neglected, and whether the abusers are substance abusers or addicts, or have a mental illness. Children who witness violence are witnessing domestic violence, intimate partner abuse and woman abuse. These forms of violence support the interconnected power structures of our world—evidence of how violence works in systemic ways through individual lives. All around the world, children are vulnerable in their homes. Child brides, as just one example, have little say in their own lives. Prioritizing education may help to avoid early marriages. As it stands, currently over 100 million young girls will become brides over the next decade. If nothing changes, 100 million children will be lost to the cycle of poverty that continues generation after generation. Children with physical and intellectual disabilities are particularly vulnerable to their caregivers. Those with intellectual disabilities who seek to tell or show that they have experienced violence are frequently not understood or believed.
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| Learning & Violence Home |
| BUILDING AN UNDERSTANDING: • The problem • Violence • Impact |
| EXPLORING POSSIBILITIES: • Learning processes • Helping yourself learn • Helping others learn • Learning to teach |
| CREATING CHANGE: • Changing education • Where in the world • Taking care of self |
| IMAGINING A FUTURE: • Dreams of a different world |
| Contact: jenny@learningandviolence.net |
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