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Physical Child Abuse

To: speakout
Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Subject: Physical Child Abuse

Good Day,

I wonder if you can help me.
I have a 16 month old baby that was physically abused by her day mother. She came home with a hand mark and big bruse on her leg. I wanted to report it to the police, but didn't want to put my baby though going to a district surgion so decided not to open a case. However, I would like to report her, the problem is, I don't know who to report her to... Can you point me in the right direction ? Or give me some advice on what to do ?
Kind Regards
LG

SpeakOut:
Why do you not want to go to a doctor, which is what a district surgeon is? That seems really strange and quite frankly without reporting the case immediately and taking your child to a district surgeon for any bruises or the like to be noted you don't have a leg to stand on.
Our advice is this: You are a mother, you have an obligation to care for your child - if you fail, then who can she ever trust?
You have left it too late to report this woman - unless the incident happened yesterday and then you still have time, report it now, but if it is longer then it is too late.
We hope you have removed your child from her care, have found someone or somewhere that cares better for your child and that in future you will not find any excuse to act urgently in the interests of your child. L, you need to know too that if you know anyone ever harms your child and you fail to act you are guilty of criminal negligence and you can not only be prosecuted but be investigated to see if you are a fit mother. We are sure you are a really good mom, don't ever hesitate in future though to seek assistance for your child or to bring to justice those who harm her, we of course hope she never again experiences anything like this.

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