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Child Abuse: Definition

Child abuse is broadly defined in many states as any type of cruelty inflicted upon a child, including mental abuse, physical harm, neglect, and sexual abuse or exploitation. The specific crimes charged in instances of child abuse can include assault and battery. In many states, certain individuals and caregivers are required by law to report suspected child abuse. Nevertheless, unfortunately, many cases of child abuse go unreported.

A child who has been abused or neglected may experience a range of problems, such as relationship difficulties, lack of trust of adults, emotional outbursts (or retreat), low performance at school, depression, anxiety, and anger.

The Elements of a Child Abuse Charge

As noted above, child abuse is a crime that encompasses a variety of behaviors involving physical, emotional, or sexual mistreatment or neglect upon a child. State child abuse laws define child abuse as any act (or failure to act) that:

1. Results in imminent risk or serious harm to a child's health and welfare due to physical, emotional, or sexual abuse;

2. affects a child (typically under the age of 18);

3. by a parent or caregiver who is responsible for the child's welfare.

In most states, the harm must have been inflicted by non-accidental means. This includes intentional acts, actions that were careless (such as, allowing a known sexual offender or known abuser to be with a child alone), and acts of negligence (such as, leaving a child under a certain age at home alone). Also, the "harm" inflicted upon a child need not be actual, but may include "threats" or "risks of imminent harm".

In addition to state child abuse laws, all states have child protective services (CPS) agencies that investigate reports of abuse and neglect of children in a home. CPS also serves to place children who have been abused or neglected in safer homes, either through adoption or foster care.

Typical defenses include accident, wrongful accusations, and a parent's right to discipline.

Mandatory Reporting Laws

Every state has mandatory reporting laws that require certain people to report apparent or suspected child abuse to a central authority, such as via a statewide toll-free hotline. The reports -- which are often anonymous -- are meant to promote early intervention of child abuse.

Many states require "any person" to report suspected child abuse, whereas other states require mandatory reporting by certain professional, such as doctors, nurses, social workers, school officials, day care workers, and law enforcement personnel. In some states, failing to report instances of child abuse is considered a misdemeanor punishable by fines, jail time, or both.

Examples of warning signs of abuse of a child may include:

Physical abuse - unexplained burns, bites, bruises, and broken bones or parent's philosophy of harsh physical discipline

Emotional abuse - extreme behavior, delayed physical or emotional development, attempted suicide, and belittling by a parent or caregiver

Sexual abuse - difficulty walking or sitting, reports of nightmares or bedwetting, sudden changes in appetite, sudden refusal to change in front of others or participate in gym activities

Neglect - frequent absences from school, obvious lack of medical or dental care, severe body odor, stays home alone

See also:
Get Legal Help with Your Case: Call a Local Criminal Defense Attorney
If you're being investigated by Child Protective Services, the police department, or your county's District Attorney, you will most certainly want to speak to a criminal defense lawyer to determine your best course of action. For your peace of mind, you should know that even in an initial attorney consultation, confidentiality is guaranteed. If you're struggling with child abuse or other criminal allegations, it's in your best interest to immediately contact a criminal defense lawyer near you.

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Child abuse is broadly defined in many states as any type of cruelty inflicted upon a child, including mental abuse, physical harm, neglect, and sexual abuse or exploitation. The specific crimes charged in instances of child abuse can include assault and battery. In many states, certain individuals and caregivers are required by law to report suspected child abuse.

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12 Nanny Training Courses and Certifications

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Want to get a nanny job or become a better nanny? Sign up for these classes to improve your nanny resume and skills. While there is no formal training required to become a nanny, these specialized classes will turn you into a more professional and knowledgeable caregiver. If you're looking ...

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About Childcare Licensing in California | Berkeley Parents Network

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The license ensures that the site is safe for children, that the caregiver has basic knowledge about child safety and health, and that all adults at the site have passed a background check. The State of California's Community Care Licensing (CCLD) is in charge of regulating childcare licenses.

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Nanny Industry Gets An Upgrade - All China Women's Federation

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Increasingly, urban white-collar women with bachelor or master's degrees are switching over to the housekeeping industry or becoming nannies.

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Left to right: City Council members Hiram Monserrate and Gale Brewer; Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence coordinator Carolyn de Leon and Andalon founder Nahar Alam. Photo taken March 24, 2002 at City Hall, copyright Lia Chang Archive.
NEW YORK (WOMENSENEWS)-A proposal that reflects burgeoning movements around the country to protect domestic workers would extend key employee rights to New York City's estimated 600,000 nannies, housekeepers and domestic cooks, who often work for as little as $2 an hour.

The legislation, introduced recently by several City Council members, is designed to improve employment conditions by offering domestic workers protections including the federal $5.15 hourly minimum-wage standard, overtime pay, Social Security, disability insurance and a 40-hour work week.

The law would bring the city's domestic workers-many of whom are undocumented women laborers-protections available to most other U.S. employees.

The New York City law would require employment agencies, which place at least half of all domestic workers in New York City, to obtain a signature from each employer on a "code of conduct" describing the employer's obligations. The agencies would be required to provide a written statement describing terms of employment to each domestic worker, including the employer's agreement to provide minimum wage, overtime pay, Social Security, unemployment insurance, disability insurance, and worker's compensation. The city's Department of Consumer Affairs would oversee the agencies and have the power to inspect the agencies' records.

Essential federal and state labor laws that cover U.S. citizens, legal residents and illegal immigrant workers often specifically exclude domestic workers from their provisions and the few that do protect workers in private homes are poorly enforced.

For example, the Occupational Safety and Health Act protections do not extend to live-in employees. The federal labor law known as Title VII and New York State Human Rights Law-both of which protect individuals from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin-do not apply to domestic workers. Title VII applies to employers with a staff of at least 15, while the New York state law applies to employers with staffs of four or more.

The Fair Labor Standards Act, perhaps the single most important piece of legislation for workers in the United States, establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, child-labor protections, and the standard of a 40-hour workweek-but excludes live-in workers from overtime pay. Although all domestic workers have the right to be paid the minimum wage, enforcement depends entirely on the workers.

"Employers assume the worker will be less informed about the laws of this country and that she would be too afraid to approach authorities because of being undocumented," said Naomi Zauderer, the organizing and campaign liaison with the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group for low-wage workers and the unemployed. In addition, she said that many employers-like their employees-do not know that labor laws apply to all workers, regardless of immigration status.

City Councilman Hiram Monserrate, a Democrat from Queens, a home for many immigrants, says he is "going to lobby our colleagues to ensure this bill passes, then fight on state and federal levels." City Councilwoman Gale Brewer, a Manhattan Democrat from an affluent, yet liberal, district, said she is optimistic that the bill will pass, particularly because "we're in a budget crunch and this bill doesn't cost anything."

Novel Places Issue of Nannies' Working Conditions in Spotlight

The legislation follows the debut of "The Nanny Diaries," a novel by two former nannies, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, that's been on the best-seller lists since it hit the stores March 7. While the tongue-in-cheek novel exquisitely satirizes vapid employers and vividly portrays a fictional selfish and self-indulgent set of parents, it does little to convey the working conditions of most nannies. Nevertheless, it has brought enormous public attention to the lives of live-in employees.

In an industry where workers are primarily immigrant women from the Caribbean, the Philippines and Eastern Europe, wages range from $175 to $650 per week, according to Jacqueline Maxwell, a nanny and organizer with Domestic Workers United. The workers have myriad responsibilities: shuttling entire families to work and school, housekeeping and laundry, cooking, child care and food shopping.

Workdays often last 16 to 17 hours, with no days off, no overtime pay, no sick days, and no health benefits. Some employers don't provide their nannies with a salary at all-just a place to stay in exchange for live-in labor.

One example that advocates say illustrates the vulnerability of these employees is detailed in a recent civil complaint filed in New York.

Yasmin, a 61-year old immigrant from Malaysia who agreed to be interviewed on the condition that her actual name was not used, says she worked in 1999 as a live-in nanny and housekeeper for a physician's family in well-to-do Southampton, N.Y. She had been hired through an employment agency for $500 a week, even though she was an undocumented worker.

According to Yasmin's account, her employer initially said her job was only to provide housekeeping, but Yasmin was routinely left alone with the doctor's two children. Her list of chores kept her busy from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and included everything from yard work and preparing the children's lunches to giving medicine to the doctor's pets. When the doctor hired a babysitter a few weeks later, Yasmin's salary was cut to $400 a week.

According to a complaint filed in New York State Supreme Court on April 10, the doctor verbally abused her as well, saying, "You are lucky to have me to work for because no one else would hire you," and, "No one knows you are here so you better be careful."

Yasmin fell on the job due to a hazard her employer knew about but failed to cure, according to court documents. Her employer gave her no time off to recover and has refused to pay the medical bills related to the accident. Yasmin is now unemployed.

Employers Have Little Accountability

Whether Yasmin's experience is rare or common, the fact is that "employers are free to do the hiring and firing without being held accountable," said Carolyn H. de Leon, a former nanny and now a coordinator at the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence, a group that organizes Asian communities.

While domestic workers have unionized for safe working conditions in France, Greece, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Colombia, such live-in domestic workers are barred from unionizing in the United States. Even for live-out employees, who are technically covered by the law, collective bargaining cannot exist because there is typically only one employee per work site.

Several community-based groups have begun to organize for domestic workers' rights, including CASA of Maryland, an advocacy organization that assists Latinos in the greater Washington area; the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles; and the Domestic Worker Cooperative in California. A live-in worker participating in these organizations could be legally fired by her employers, however, as she would not be protected by the National Labor Relations Act.

Some Argue for Different Strategy

What may ultimately improve working conditions the most for nannies and housekeepers is not the proposed legislation, but a standard contract between workers and their employers, argue some advocates. Domestic worker organizations in New York are distributing a so-called "standard contract," educating workers about their rights and training them to negotiate with potential employers.

Zauderer, the liaison for the National Employment Law Project, said that ultimately domestic workers cannot depend on employment agencies to watch out for them and that they will still need to take the initiative to negotiate a contract that spells out their working conditions and employer's responsibilities to them.
Michelle Tsai is a freelance reporter in New York.
For more information:

National Employment Law Project:
http://www.nelp.org/

The Village Voice
Women Raise the City:
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0211/lee.php

Outta' Sight: Hidden Labor in Los Angeles:
http://www.outtasight.org

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Proposed Law Would Protect Nannies, Others

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Left to right: City Council members Hiram Monserrate and Gale Brewer; Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence coordinator Carolyn de Leon and Andalon founder Nahar Alam. Photo taken March 24, 2002 at City Hall, copyright Lia Chang Archive.

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Shocking hidden camera video obtained by the Daily Mail shows the moment a nanny slams a British couple's 18-month-old boy into his crib.

It's only part of the abuse that the child's parents caught on a hidden camera, which they set up after the child's grandmother became suspicious of the nanny, who the paper calls "Agatha."

Agatha was charged with cruelty to a child for the January 2013 incident, but a jury found her not guilty on a legal technicality.

The Daily Mail reports:

Although Agatha had admitted she had thrown and struck [the boy], under the law she was not guilty because she had not been charged with assault -- and could not be charged with this offense using the same evidence.

The difference between "cruelty" and "assault on a child" as defined under British law -- and the confusion these terms have created -- is the subject of a 2008 document by Britain's Sentencing Guidelines Council. "Assault" refers to an incident of abuse. "Cruelty" is taken to mean a pattern of abuse:

[Cruelty] is more likely to apply to offenses where there is evidence that a child was assaulted by someone with caring responsibility during a certain period but where there is no clear evidence of any particular incidents, the extent of those incidents or the specific time of the incidents...

Where a serious assault has been committed, the CPS Charging Standard advises that a charge of child cruelty will not be appropriate and that the most appropriate offense against the person should be charged in such circumstances.

Fortunately, the child, now 3, appears to have sustained no lasting trauma. But his parents, Rowena and Jack Churchland, remain horrified at the verdict and at the way that child protective services handled the case. Inquisitr reports that they're appealing for a review of the case.

"I felt so helpless. I wanted to be [my child's] voice -- I feel like I let him down," Rowena Churchland told the Daily Mail.

A hidden video can provide damning evidence in a child abuse trial. Earlier this week, a caretaker for a Staten Island, N.Y., family pleaded guilty to to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child after she was filmed violently shaking and slapping an 11-month-old baby in January.

Prosecutors say that woman could face up to 10 months in prison.

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Shocking hidden camera video obtained by the Daily Mail shows the moment a nanny slams a British couple's 18-month-old boy into his crib. It's only part of the abuse that the child's parents caught on a hidden camera, which they set up after the child's grandmother became suspicious of the nanny, who the paper calls "Agatha."

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Forbes Welcome page -- Forbes is a global media company, focusing on business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, and lifestyle.

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In a nanny abuse case, the nanny blames to herself and thinks that her employers beat her because she does not do well enough.

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43岁保姆被雇主虐待9个月 精神恍惚伤痕累累

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43岁保姆被雇主虐待9个月 精神恍惚伤痕累累_新闻_腾讯网

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43岁保姆被雇主虐待9个月 精神恍惚伤痕累累

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珠海虐待保姆案小保姆首爆被虐细节--中国工会新闻--人民网

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保姆： 　　对被虐"习以为常"　所以未曾想到逃跑 　　昨日，经过数十次整形手术后的小保姆敏敏出现在法庭上，这也是被爆出多年受虐以来，敏敏首次面对雇主大胆揭发其施虐细节。昨日早上9时，保姆敏敏出现在庭审现场，当敏敏陈述雇主长达五年对自己的折磨时，最初雇主情绪十分激动地嚷道"她胡说八道，我没打她"。在审判员制止后，雇主才平静下来。 ...

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那些被虐待的女佣(组图)_新闻中心_中国网