UAE: 95 children in abuse cases get emergency help in Sharjah

Sharjah - The department dealt with 1,362 complaints received on its child helpline in 2020.

As many as 95 children were given emergency assistance in child abuse cases in Sharjah last year by the Child Protection Department, officials have said.

The department dealt with 1,362 complaints received on its child helpline in 2020, of which 1,267 cases were of non-emergency nature.

An official said the complaints from children of various nationalities included sexual abuse, violence, physical abuse and neglect, school problems, economic problems, homelessness, commercial exploitation, health and psychological problems.

Maha Al Mansouri, Director of the government communication at the Sharjah Social Service Department, said that the child protection section received a total of 10,155 calls at its hotline number 800700 during last year. These included 134 health, social and psychological inquiries and 3,667 general enquiries.

Al Mansouri said the department is keen to deal with the reports to secure and guarantee children's rights and support them to overcome the various crises they are exposed to.

Amina Al Rifai, Director of child protection at the SSSD, said that a total of 494 child abuse victims have been protected and provided care by Sharjah Social Service Department (SSSD) until the end of November 2020.