RIYADH, 1 November 2006 — A major medical symposium will take place next week to discuss and study child abuse in all its forms: Physical, sexual and mental.
Entitled “Child Abuse: Advanced Training for Medical Professionals,” the symposium, to be held in Riyadh on Nov. 6-7, has been organized by the National Family Safety Program (NFSP) at the National Guard Hospital. It is expected to be inaugurated by Social Affairs Minister Abdul Mohsen Al-Akkas and National Guard Hospital CEO Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah. It will move to Jeddah on Nov. 8-9.
Two speakers from the United States will address over 300 physicians, nurses, social workers and psychiatrists who deal with all aspects of child abuse that includes recognition, treatment, prevention and intervention strategies.
“Our mission is the prevention of domestic violence and child abuse through awareness, education and training. We feel that we have an obligation to train medical professionals first on how to recognize child abuse and to manage it and treat it as well as how to prevent it,” said Dr. Maha Al-Muneef, director of NFSP, noting that organizing this symposium was NFSP’s first major activity in the Kingdom.
Dr. Maha said that many pediatricians, psychologists and psychiatrists who registered for the symposium said they had seen several cases of child abuses in the private sector and did not know how to deal with it.
“Since child abuse has become a medical fact in Saudi Arabia, a lot of people do not know what the strategy is for dealing with cases in terms of the child, the family and how to report it to the police. It is still a major problem here.”
A special three-hour workshop will be part of the symposium during which medical staff will be taught how to deal with crying babies to prevent “shaken baby syndrome” as well as how to deal with angry toddlers.
The symposium will also discuss children’s rights for the first time in the Kingdom. “It is very important that parents know that children have rights. People should think twice before resorting to corporal punishment as disciplinary measures for children. There are other forms of discipline,” she said, adding that the public and parents would benefit from the symposium.
