To question whether this was child abuse?

[manyunansweredquestions]

I was at a train station in Portugal last week. There was a young child, I'd guess aged 3-4, crying on the platform (for context, although I didn't see I will assume the crying was related to a tantrum of sorts). A woman came up to the child, dragged them up by one arm so they were dangling, slapped them around the face with the force you'd hit an adult, and threw them a metre away.

I was shocked to have witnessed such treatment of a child because obviously here in the UK that absolutely is child abuse, but I wondered whether, somehow, that could be relatively normal in another culture. Given how publicly it occurred with no one seemingly batting an eyelid, it didn't seem like a unusual sight.

AIBU and should I mind my own business or is it reasonable to assume that's not normal treatment of a child anywhere?

I saw a man slapp a child round the face and I stepped in. You have to stand up them if you don't who will, the child can't. Maybe nothing I did prevented it from happening again but maybe what I did prevented it from happening again. I'll never know

I wish I could have intervened but I'm both tiny and skinny, and not speaking Portuguese meant the only way I could have done anything would be physically. If it'd have been in the UK I'd certainly have tried to do something.

It was abuse of a child. Does it matter what country it was in? It was a small person who couldn’t defend themselves.
did you just walk away? Was there no one official who you could talk to. At the very least?

My in laws live in Portugal and they do say that most parents openly hit their children there. I've never seen it myself (in fact people seem to be incredibly kind and gentle to children). That sounds horrible OP and definitely abusive.

I would report to the Portugal police it might still be on cctv

It's absolutely child abuse from my understanding and the understanding of many (most?) other countries/cultures in the world, but not necessarily all of them which is what I'm asking here. In a similar way to cooking animals alive is abuse in my opinion but is a commonly accepted practice in some areas of the world, whether I agree with it or not.

They walked away, I was sat on the other side of the tracks with my own toddler and it was not at a major station so there was no one official around. If you mean to ask whether I did nothing, the answer is yes because there was nothing I could do.

You could have reported it.

Poor little kid. They'll probably be alright. All our parents got beaten when they were kids. We got the slipper and the belt and we are alright too. Kids get through it they always have.

We are much gentler with kids these days it's nice. They can be a bit riotous themselves though!

YABU to ASK whether that's child abuse or not.
I mean really... how are you unsure?

Thank you for clarification, this might explain why no one around appeared to react as if it was something out of the ordinary.

Perhaps Portugal hasn’t caught up yet with the standards of how we treat children in the uk. I remember this being normal when I Grew up (80’s/90’s uk)
like another poster said why not report to the Portuguese police as it’ll be on cctv.

Too tiny and skinny to alert a member of staff?

Plus, how did you know the parent didn't speak English?

I'm asking if that sort of treatment of children there is commonly accepted, or whether the particular event I witnessed was an isolated case of child abuse. That's not the same as asking whether I should be okay with it as you are making me out to be asking.

Of course it’s child abuse. Just because practices are normal in another country (if this is the case), this doesn’t make them somehow not abusive. Think of FGM etc. Children need protection whatever their parents believe.

Is your Google broken?

I only ask because I just Googled 'Do the Portuguese hit their children' and lots of info came up.

This is child abuse and you can still report it as PP said. It also happens in public view alot in this country sadly. ( Sw ).

Well if you did that to an adult you’d be in prison wouldn’t you so…

I'd see it as child abuse but the moral aspect and the legal aspect can be different worldwide.

There are states in the US for instance where teachers can and do administer corporal punishment i.e legally hit children in their schools.