Protecting our children exploring and preventing child abuse

Abstract

Probably this will sound very much a cliché, but children do deserve to live the best quality of life. A society, I believe, is measured by our ability as a community to take care of this population, to provide for them, to give them agency and space to grow, to develop their critical skills, so that at the end of the day they have a better understanding of the World. Unfortunately, some or many children, in this journey of life, hit a bump. Some bumps are critical experiences that if society does not provide enough support and services that compliment that pain will lead to a slippery slope. This study ably led by Dr Roberta Attard and the team of Research Support Officers, namely Graziella Vella, Olga Formosa, Annabel Cuff provides us with a dire reality that our society is caught in. The pain that we seem to inflict on children at times is unthinkable and irrational, whether done consciously or not. We hope that this project funded by the Bank of Valletta will help us gather a clearer understanding of what is happening, and this will provide an opportunity for policy makers to act accordingly. The Faculty for Social Wellbeing feels privileged to have taken in on its shoulders to lead this important research.