Obaida's case is tough lesson: CDA

Dubai - Obaida went missing for two days before being found dead in Academic City Road in Dubai's Al Warqa.

Awareness is key to avoiding future child sexual abuse cases in the UAE, officials have said.
Khaled Al Kamda, Director-General of Community Development Authority (CDA), said it is important to look behind the factors that lead to children's sexual abuses and address them.
"If the child has enough knowledge about sexual abuse and how he can protect themselves, we will limit, if not avoid, such cases in the future," said Al Kamda. He added that children's knowledge comes mainly from parents.
"We need to train parents on how they can deliver information to their children about protecting themselves and not allowing strangers to touch certain parts of their bodies," he said.
Al Kamda was referring to the recent sexual assault of eight-year-old Obaida who went missing for two days before being found dead in Academic City Road in Dubai's Al Warqa.
He made the statement as CDA officials shared figures of prevalent forms of abuse reported at the centre from 2014 until end of April 2016, in line with Child Protection Law that came into effect on June 15.
"Obaida's case was a tough lesson we should learn from, as with cases in the past." He added that the new law took effect because of one such case: Wadeema, the little girl who was tortured to death by her father and his girlfriend in 2012.
However, recent figures revealed by CDA showed that sexual abuse cases reported to its child protection centre has decreased from 19.5 per cent of total cases in 2014 to 12.5 per cent in 2015 in UAE.
When asked about the recent increase of child abuse cases heard in public, Al Kamda said: "These cases have always existed. There was just no specialised programme that could take these reports and act upon them."
In line with the new law, CDA is establishing a training programme that will address all sectors of the society that deal directly with children on their responsibilities and method of delivering information to young children.
"Since our records show that children from 7 to 9 years old make up the majority of abuse cases reported to us, we need to get involved with everyone around the child and train them on how they can deliver the information to young ages," noted Al Kamda.
He stressed that child protection is a social responsibility that needs everyone's involvement.
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai