Child Abuse - A Fact Sheet from the Department of Justice Canada

HOW WIDESPREAD IS CHILD ABUSE IN CANADA?

It has been difficult to obtain a complete picture of child abuse in Canada because it often remains hidden. Most provincial and territorial child welfare laws require those (including professionals and members of the public) who suspect that a child is being maltreated to make a report to the appropriate child welfare authority. Yet many cases of child abuse remain undisclosed, either because a child does not, or cannot, tell anyone what has happened to them, or because no one reports the abuse to the authorities.

A child who is being abused may endure the abuse for a long time before telling anyone what is happening. Some victims never tell anyone about what they have experienced.

There are many reasons why abuse may remain hidden. For example, an abuser may manipulate, bribe, coerce or threaten a child (or someone they love) to prevent them from telling anyone about the abuse. Depending on their age and stage of development, a child may not be able to communicate what has happened to them, or they may fear they will not be believed. They may be convinced that the abuse is their fault and, if they tell anyone about it, they will be punished. They may fear that they or the abuser will be removed from the home, or suffer other consequences. They may feel ashamed and want to keep the abuse (and related family problems) secret to avoid being stigmatized or have their sexual identity questioned.

A child who is being abused is usually in a position of dependence on the abuser. The power imbalance between the child and the abuser often increases the burden of disclosure. Children who are sexually abused, for example, may not tell anyone for a long time, or ever. Many children who experienced abuse while living in special needs institutions, child welfare facilities, youth detention facilities, and residential schools for Aboriginal children are only now, as adults, reporting the abuse.

Individuals who witness or suspect that a child is being abused may not report it because they:

want to avoid the demands of becoming “involved”
have personal views which condone the use of physical punishment
believe that the abuse is not “serious”, especially if the child does not have visible or severe injuries
believe that reporting the abuse to the authorities is not in the child's best interest
believe that reporting may not solve the problem because, for example, there may be a lack of appropriate services to help the child
lack knowledge about the signs and symptoms of abuse
not understand their responsibility to report abuse
not know that they can report to child welfare agencies, provincial or territorial social services departments or police departments, or
not know that a report can be made anonymously, and that there are no legal consequences, unless the report is false and is made maliciously.

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