Exhibition tackling childhood abuse

Department of Psychology of Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Cyprus International University (CIU) organized an exhibition titled “The Dark Side of Children’s Rights: Child Abuse Report Card” in order to raise awareness about child abuse.
The exhibition featured 50 posters containing data and criticisms on child abuse and was coordinated by Assist. Prof. Dr. Bengü Berkmen, faculty member in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Assist. Prof. Dr. Bengü Berkmen, referring to the latest report published by the World Health Organization (WHO), stated that child abuse is defined as “all behaviors that negatively affect the health, physical and psychosocial development of the child, implemented knowingly or unknowingly by an adult, society or the state.” Berkmen drew attention to the alarming prevalence of child abuse worldwide.
Berkmen said that based on the date released in the reports, a child dies every 15 seconds worldwide due to malnutrition, one in every 5 women and one in every 7 men are sexually abused during childhood, and six in every 10 children under the age of five are subjected to physical violence.
The exhibition also drew attention to critical issues such as the lengthy and drawn-out nature of legal procedures in child abuse cases, inadequate supervision and non-deterrent punishments. The exhibition was held to inform the society and raise awareness about the extent of child abuse.