Consequences of Maltreatment and Abuse of Young Children

M1- Explain possible consequences of maltreatment for children and young people I am going to be identifying possible consequences or the outcomes of children and young people if they are abused or maltreated at a young age.
The first consequence I am going to identify is mental health issues. If a child is abused of any sort at a young age they will develop and grow up thinking this is normal, for example physical abuse they may not know any better or they may know better but not know what to do to stop it this will then lead to trust issues and other issues such as depression and anxiety at an older age. Although the number of males being abused is going up it still generally is women, who then tend to turn to things such as drugs and alcohol as a way of dealing with what is happening to them. This is proven to then cause more problems and add to the issues already had.
The next consequence is for sexual abuse, although it is a horrible one I will try my best to explain it as well as possible. In severe cases of abuse the girl may become pregnant and be forced to have multiple abortions this then will affect their reproductive system for when they are older. This may mean they cannot have children or will struggle to conceive, this is a consequence because the girl may want to try and forget about everything that has happened in the past but there will always be a constant reminder of it and the abuser has scarred her for life. This links into another consequence which can then also feed into all types of abuse, whilst the abuse is happening the child will then become withdrawn from society and those close to them. And begin not to feel safe, this is a consequence because every child deserves to feel safe and not scared and constantly looking over their shoulder, it is not fair. A child may not be able to concentrate at school because their head will be in a completely different place thinking about what is happening at home. This is a consequence