Introduction

Child abuse can cause harm to a child because of any action by another person. This issue has become
a national widespread that needing immediate attention. There are four major types of child abuse,
sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect of a child, especially by a parent or
relatives. An abused child will often experience more than one type of abuse and also other
difficulties in their lives. These may cause significant harm to the child.

Sexual abuse is when a child is forced to take part in sexual activities. There are two types of
child sexual abuse. These are called contact abuse and non-contact abuse. Contact abuse is that abuser
makes physical contact with a child including penetration. The example of contact abuse includes
penetration by putting body part or others object inside a child mouth or vagina. Other than that, non-
contact abuse includes non-touching activities, like exploitation, grooming, and convincing children
to perform sexual acts over the internet and flashing. The example of non-contact abuse includes
asking a child to watch sexual acts and showing pornography to a child. Secondly, physical abuse is
purposely hurting a child causing injuries like broken bones or cuts. Examples of physically abused
include being hit, slapped and kicked. Thirdly, emotional abuse is the continuous maltreatment of a
child. It also called psychological abuse which can seriously damage a childs mental health.
Examples of emotional abuse include purposely trying to scare a child, ignoring and isolating them.
Lastly, child neglect is the continuous failure to fulfil a childs basic needs and is the most common
form of child abuse. There are four types of neglect which includes physical neglect, educational
neglect, emotional neglect, and medical neglect. Physical mean that failing to provide for childs basic
needs such as food and clothing. Besides, educational neglect is failing to ensure a child being
educated. Then, emotional neglect is failing to meet childs need for nurture by ignoring or isolating
them. Lastly, medical neglect is failing to provide suitable health care or ignoring medical
recommendations for children.

Cases of abuse include, beaten, abandonment, and baby dumping nowadays have become a
serious trend as it represent the sick state of our society. An exponential increment of child abuse
cases as reported by national statistic is far from reaching a high state. Data collected by many
departments can show the steady rise of total reported cases. The cases reported are often confusing
and cases reported are just a small part. Many cases are hidden from the public and we cannot take
action about that.

Solving the problem and directing the cases is not the final answer to reducing these cases
happened. Usually it is reported after tragedy happened so we cannot take action before the sad cases
happened. Especially when the abuser is a family member the silence goes on for a long time. Even
there is a suspicion with relative or neighbours they will afraid to involve in these cases. Furthermore,
childrens complaints always been taking as unimportant or untrusted, this is the reason for increasing
of cases child abuse.

Child protection is an important issue for us to take responsible. The purpose of child
protection is to ensure the safety of children and they can live in a comfortable environment. We
should try our best to protect them from harm and reduce the cases of child abuse. Many people will
take these cases as unserious because they cannot fully understand the severity of child abuse cases.
Between that, many people dont know what should do and what action should be taken if they
witness these cases happened. They will afraid and worry about self-safety and in the end they have
simply chosen to ignore.

In nowadays society, social media plays an important role to spread the awareness and news.
Media is one of the most widely acknowledged ways to reach teenagers. Such as radio stations can
help them discover the world they live in, and to find out about their responsibilities and rights. Since
we are listening to radio every day, so here is a question- what are the roles play by the private radio
stations in Malaysia in promoting awareness on child and abuse issue among the society.