What does one mean by sibling abuse?
Sibling violence is a common kind of abuse and many times may not be noticed by many people. It is also known as inter-sibling neglect. Any kind of physical, verbal, emotional or sexual abuse by one sibling to another will be referred to as sibling violence. This kind of abuse may normally occur in abusive homes where children are neglected.

A teenager was a victim of sibling abuse and took up therapy. The therapist complaint to the authorities based on the information given by the victim. Can the person be charged with criminally under such a scenario?
The therapist can handle the above situation in a different way depending on how old the abuse is, what the age of the victim is and how severe the abuse is. This situation may have to be handled on a case to case basis as most states have different statute of limitations for sibling abuse. Also, any information that the adult may give the therapist may be considered to be confidential and may not be used by the therapist without the adult's consent. However, if the teenager was a minor, then the therapist may be legally bound to protect the best interest of the minor and may report the crime.

How can sibling abuse be identified and differentiated from sibling rivalry?
Siblings may always fight and call each other names. However, if one child is constantly the victim of the fights and the other is always the aggressor, it could be sibling mistreatment. Some of the signs of sibling mistreatment are given below:
€ The child avoids the sibling always
€ The child gets nightmares and there are changes is his/her behavior, sleep patterns and eating habits
€ The child acts the abuse out while playing
€ The child behaves in sexually inappropriate ways.
€ The roles of the children are not flexible and one of them is always the aggressor.
€ The fights and violence between the siblings keep increasing.

What steps can a parent take to avoid or prevent sibling abuse?
There are various things that a parent can do to prevent sibling abuse. Some of these things are given below:
€ Try and reduce the rivalry between the children
€ Keep rules in order to avoid emotional abuse
€ Don't make the older children very responsible for the younger ones
€ Keep time everyday to talk to the children alone, especially if they have spent a lot of time together.
€ Figure out a right time to interfere between the fights of the children.
€ Try and mediate the fights between them
€ Teach the children good methods to solve conflicts
€ Teach the children the importance of non violence
€ Teach the children to refuse unwanted physical contact
€ Try and monitor the child's choice of television shows, video games and other media
€ Try and create a family atmosphere at home where everyone can easily communicate at home
€ Be involved in the children's lives as actively as possible.

Is it possible for someone to get help for sibling abuse that took place in the past?
How the help for sibling cruelty will be given will depend on the age and situation of the victim. The first step in most cases would be to take the victim off the place where the abuse is occurring. It may be difficult to report sibling violence at times. Depending on who has information about the abuse, reporting it can have many legal implications. Most states in the US have different child abuse hotlines that may guide a person if he/she wants to report sibling cruelty.

Many studies have proved that sibling cruelty is the most common form of abuse in families. It is also the least detected as people may not know what to do in such situations. You may ask a family lawyer for help if you need more information on sibling abuse.