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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Why do people abuse children?

I have been reading news articles about a little girl who was killed. The case is still in the courts and has a long way to go, there is still a lot of information not available  and it is unknown who actually killed her.

Reading each article is really affecting me. The more I read the sadder I become.

Hayley, the little girl was the same age as Immy, just two.

How could people do this, how could people watch?

Imagine the life she lived at all.

Imagine the constant abuse she endured.

I just don’t get it.

It breaks my heart. It makes me feel helpless.




From The Age article today is this snippet:

He said Robert (the father) made Hayley stand in the middle of the kitchen until late at night to punish her for misbehaving.
Robert had later gone up to Hayley ''and kicked her feet clean out from under her so that she has fallen straight back onto the back of her head''.


''He looked like he kicked hard enough to knock me out,'' the brother said. ''She was crying then and got back up.


''Rob told her: 'I'm your dad and I can do whatever I want. If you think other people are mean, then you should see how mean I can be!''


The girlfriend claimed in her statement that Robert continually slapped Hayley during the night if she moved or looked around. She said that when taking the girl from the room, Robert deliberately bumped Hayley into the walls and anything that got in the way.


''He tried to stand her up on the table but her knees kept buckling … She was crying out 'Daddy, Daddy','' she said.


''While he was standing her up, he full-on shoved her back and her head into the wall which the kitchen table is around. This caused her head and back to make a crack in the wall and caused Hayley to scream.''


The full article is on The Age site.


If you need assistance or know of any children being abused the Australian Children’s Foundation assists children of abuse. They have phone numbers to call and ways to assist. Use them if you have to and donate to them if you can. Or sign the petition they are currently running for a national awareness campaign into child abuse.

Image from weheartit there was no way I was googling images of abused children, it would send me to troppo.

13 comments:

  1. The mind boggles at how someone could systematically destroy a child's life that way. My heart breaks for all those poor little angels out there who are being abused.

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  2. I couldn't even read all that... makes me too sad and frustrated. We have help available in this country for people who can't 'deal' with these situations - please reach out for help if you need it.

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  3. Since becoming a Mother it gets harder and harder to read these things and all the adjectives in the world cannot describe how much it breaks my heart.

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  4. It is horrendous!

    As a community I feel we need to push the government to have better and more accessible infrastructure to help parents be better parents. Often these 'parents' are so damage by their own parents they have no clue how to be a good parent or know when to ask for help. We spend so much money on things that end up being misdirected and don't really help the kids. The underfunding of welfare services is a disgrace. I offer a suggestion that the mental health plan provide more parenting counsellors to dysfunctional families at times that are accessible for these people and at regular weekly intervals.

    Honestly I find parenting hard, and I despair knowing that this systematic abuse happens like a sport for so many unnurtured children. Then if they are lucky to grow up, they are pretty mental themselves. So sad, who is going to make this change?

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  5. Absolutely horrific. Little lives deserve bucket loads of love not this x

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  6. I can't bear this stuff. I had to skim, it hurts my heart so much :(

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  7. Had to skim too. That poor little angel and darling brother having to witness it. My little boy skipped through grocery shopping yesterday. I asked why. " I am just happy mum". Our priority is to make everything right in their little worlds. A-M xx

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  8. That was so hard to read. I'm crying. I don't get it either. What possesses a person to do that to anyone let alone their own child?! I shower my kids with affection, always hugging and kissing them and sometimes I stop and think about all those little angels who live lives totally devoid of any love. It's so sad :( You're right, it does make a person feel helpless :((

    Gemma - very true, it's often a vicious cycle. So much more needs to be done. How often do we hear that a murdered child was already "known" to DOCS? If they were known to the department, they should have been saved. One child murdered is one child too many :(

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  9. I find this stuff so hard to read. The father deserves nothing but contempt. What I don't understand is why the brother didn't step in? Who the hell watches that and think it's okay?

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  10. I can't read much more than the synopsis you've put in your post Claire and though I always found it difficult to read I find it impossible to read since becoming a Mama. I just CAN'T fathom it. As someone who didn't live an ideal childhood and suffered at the hands of an alternately absent and emotionally abusive dad I know some of this pain all too well though it was never as bad as that of which you write. I don't understand what happens to the protective instinct of people who are capable of this type of treatment towards their children and really feel they must be lacking in some way as human beings. Thanks for the awareness re the petition too. xxxx

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  11. It is just heartbreaking to read, to even imagine that poor little girl's sad, sad life. I hope she is at peace now and that somehow this story encourages someone, somewhere to speak out to save another child.

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  12. This was so hard to read. I am balling!!!

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  13. Heartbreaking Clairey. So heartbreaking.

    I wish I could have adopted that little girl so she would know what love really was.

    There is so much sadness in this world, and I wish we could fix it. xx

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