Child abuse issue was discussed at CIU
A call for social awareness against child abuse was made at CIU
On the occasion of November 20th "World Children’s Day," the Department of Psychology of Cyprus International University (CIU), Faculty of Arts and Sciences held a panel on "Coping with Child Abuse in North Cyprus."
The panel that took place on November 14th at the CIU Cevik Uraz Center Conference Hall, Minister of Labor and Social Security Hasan Taçoy, Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Gürkan Doğan, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Prof.Dr. Metin Karadağ delivered the opening speeches; Psychological Specialist Eşmen Tatlıcalı, Social Worker Eda Mertler, Social Worker Akile Tuncelli, Social Worker Deniz Kırmızı, Social Worker Sıla Murat, Psychological Specialist Zehra Yürür were on the panel as discussants.
“As a social state, it is our priority to implement policies related to the protection of children”
In his speech, Minister of Labor and Social Security Hasan Taçoy stated that their main aim is to provide a solution to abused and neglected children with the help of state institutions, psychologists and social workers, and added that his office has been working for years since they came to office for the protection of children's rights without discriminating them based on religion, language, race and gender, and he noted that within this context. they have updated many laws that had not been done for years.
CIU Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Gürkan Doğan stated that the issue of “Coping with Child Abuse in North Cyprus” is extremely valuable for everyone and that it is very important to talk about what paths can be followed to approach children who have been physically, emotionally and sexually abused.
Social Work Specialist Eda Mertler said that social work is a professional job performed by social workers in order to solve the problems that people cannot solve, adding that the social workers practicing this profession are at the service of not only the elderly but children and the poor as well.
Psychological Specialist Eşmen Tatlıcalı stated that there should be a multidisciplinary environment in every field where they work with children and stated that psychologists can see children in their meeting room, but social workers should visit the child's home and examine the socioeconomic status of the family, and then should submit a report explaining the conditions.
Social Service Officer Akile Tuncelli stated that in the past years, the child was considered as a labor force that would contribute to the economic development of the family, and as the child got older, s/he was perceived as a social security tool, and said, “The most basic principle within the scope of children's rights is that every person up to the age of 18 is considered a child, and the best interests of the child should be considered here. "
We have to transform the society top to bottom
Social Service Officer Deniz Kırmızı talked about the stages experienced as of the time the abuse is reported to the police, and said that this process is traumatic especially for the child who was exposed to sexual assault such as rape. Pointing out the importance of the police being trained in this regard, Kırmızı noted that even the words used incorrectly by the police officers who are not properly trained on the ways to approach the victim, can cause the children to be adversely affected.
Psychological Specialist Zehra Yürür said in her speech that children prefer to express their feelings through games, and therefore, play areas and meeting rooms are important for psychologists. Yürür explained the implications of the toys in the rooms and said that family-oriented toys enable the child to establish a relationship with the specialist, while scary toys create an important environment for the child to overcome his/her own fears.
At the end of the Panel, Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Gürkan Doğan gave Certificates of Appreciation to the panelists.