CHILD ABUSE, A GLOBAL VIEW BY OTASOWIE, MATTHEW OMORUYI DEPARTMENT 0F RELIGIONS, FACULTY OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF BENIN NIGERIA Introduction This paper discuesses chil abuse especially in the two cases in the stories below. The paper is viewed form moral perspective. Morality applies to good or bad conduct as viewed in different societies. Every culture, in time and place possesses certain notion of what it considers ‘good’ and ‘bad’, ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, ‘ought-nots’. Equally, from time to time, and from place to place, there has been diversity of views occasionally as to what is good and bad, right and wrong in human character and moral conduct in different ciltures (Warnock,1961). In the story below, the wife of Potipher complained about the conduct of the slave boy to her husband. The husband did not fill he should get rid of this dog instead he informed the prison warden. He had human sympathy. Moral Lessons: In the 1800 B.C. Joseph, the son of Jacob of the lineage of Abraham was sold as a slave to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard (Gen. 37:35-36). He was a slave boy about fourteen years old. In Potipher’s house he performed his house duties except the one demand by the wife. The duty that supposed to be performed by the master. The wife demanded that he lie with her (Gen. 39:7). He was unjustly accused and luckly for him, he was sent to prison (Gen. 39:19). The officer did not demand he should be shot. He was a child of promise and in prison he interpreted dreams. This gift brought fame to him and his family. In the book “A Man to Slay Dragons” the author gave the story of the young fourteen-year-old boy Valsin Monparnasse bought in New Orleans in 1830s. This boy claimed he was too young to work as a field slave in the master’s sugar plantation. So Monparnasse made him dig a deep grave, and he shot the boy where he stood. There were cruelties back then, and in some ways, life was better back then for everyone. There was an injustice in the tale of Valsin Monparnasse. No one ever spoke of Valsin Monparnasse’s contributions to the economy and the plantation houses he left behind in the United States. All everyone ever focused on was that fourteen-year-old house boy (Mckinney, 1996:151). This two stories show there is no smoke without fire. The two stories are homely stories but it got out through some eyewitnesses or guilty consciences. The two slave owners were powerful people, an officer of the army and an industrialist. In their houses there will be some other persons like cook and stewards. The lesson here is that one should not be too cruel as in the case of the second master. The two cases reported above connects two cases of child abuse. The first case is sexual abuse. This is where an individual takes undue advantage of subjecting the minor to sexual intercourse for self gratification.(Sexual violence in South Africa,2010,wikipedia). The second case is child exploitation, often referred to as child labour. It involves the use of a child in work for the benefit of others. Child exploitation is a systematic process of using children to work with little compensation and consideration for their health and safety (Newton,2001). Child abuse is a global issue and it occurs in a variety of ways. UNICEF (1978) sees a child as a person under the age of eighteen years. Oxford English Dictionary defines abuse as ill-treatment; svere, cruel, unfair, to make rude and offensive remarks. There are different perception of what is accepted as abusive act. The African Network for prevention against child abuse and neglect defines child abuse as”the intentional, unintentional or well intentional acts which endanger the physical health, emotional, moral and the educational welfare of children”. Conclusion: Wrongful maltreating a child or selfishly making an unfair use of a child’s services by adults responsible for the child constitutes an abuse. Child abuse is a serious problem and it can lead to betrayal of trust, withdrawal from the care taker or peers. References Otasowie, M.O. (2021) Morality and Child Abuse, Global View. South-South Journal of Humanities and International Studies. A Multi-Disciplinary Journal of the Faculty of Humanities. Port Harcourt. Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. Pp. 43-48. Mckinney, M. (1996) A Man to Slay Dragos. Kensington publishing Corp. Zebrabooks. P.151. Newton, C.J. (2001) Child Abuse: An Overview. Mental Health Journal. http:www. Therapisfindeknet. In Ogirisi. A New Journal of African Studies. Vol. 7, 2010. P.111. Warnock, G.J. (1961) Contemporary Moral Philosophy. London: George University press. P.16. in the Substance of Ethics and Morality. Omonzejele et al. 2017, p.113, Department of Philosophy, Unversity of Benin.s