Abuses of the girl child in some African societies: implications for nurse practitioners

The definition of a child in African societies varies. From the moment the girl child can talk and walk, she is allocated responsibilities within the family. Westernized cultures view such responsibilities as forms of abuse. Thus, various reports had been written about girl children and had been critical of African societies without acknowledging that Africa is a very large continent. This paper sets out to identify, explore, and present potential areas of abuse of the girl child, for example, female circumcision, child slaves, rape survivors, child soldiers, child prostitution, teenage pregnancy, and arranged marriages. This paper suggests strategies that healthcare professionals could initiate in situations where a girl child is being abused.