Health firm launches campaign for child abuse victims

AMANI Health Inc. has launched a campaign tagged, ‘Speak Up Now’ to help victims of child abuse.

The company said in a statement recently that the campaign would help minors between the ages of 6 and 17 to improve their mental, psychological, academic, and social wellness by building the right characters through their formative years.

According to data from the Child Protection Network of Lagos State Ministry of Youths and Social Development, over 2,514 cases of child’s abuse were recorded Lagos in 2020 and 520 cases in 2021.

The data further said that sexual (defilement, rape and assault) abuse of children share the highest occurrence at 1,005 and 213 in 2020 and 2021, respectively, followed by physical violence with 376 and 94 incidents in both years, respectively.

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As such, the teletherapy company stated that the campaign aimed to educate, enlighten and help students to develop an understanding of their emotional, behavioural, social, and psychological wellbeing and encourage them to prioritize their own mental well-being.

The statement read in part, “The ‘Speak Up Now’ campaign will consist of a series of interactive and engaging activities, workshops and events designed to educate and enlighten students about reducing societal stigma surrounding mental health, having healthy school-life balance, identifying negative behavioural patterns among children such as trauma, anxiety, abuse, suicide, social isolation, aggression, violence, stress, neglect, domestic violence, bullying, peer influence, academic challenges etc. and how they can seek help if needed.

“We believe that prioritizing mental health education for students is crucial to creating a more positive and healthy learning environment and can also help prevent the development of serious mental health problems such as suicide, academic challenges, anxiety, depression, aggression, violence etc. By educating students how to recognize and manage their emotions.”