Child Abuse Prevention Month: No Child Deserves to be Hurt or Neglected

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and in honor of raising awareness, it is time we discuss this silent tragedy present on a daily basis in our community. The simple truth is that no child deserves to be hurt.

Unfortunately, the reason I have a job is due to the overwhelming presence of child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence in society. I stand strongly behind my job and the importance of raising awareness of the impact that child abuse has on our community and providing people with the tools to stop the violence.

Due to long-seeded cultural stereotypes, many of us have a preconceived idea of what typical perpetrators and victims look like. However, child abuse occurs across all ages, ethnicities, and socioeconomic groups and within millions of homes including those in our community. Child abuse is most prevalent from birth to 5 years of age and the large majority of child abuse perpetrators are the child's own parents. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, as of 2012, the most common type of abuse is neglect, topping the charts at 67%. Neglect far exceeds the physical and emotional cases that may immediately come to mind when thinking of child abuse. Physical abuse accounts for 16% of the cases reported.

So what is neglect? Neglect includes a failure to properly care for a child or provide basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, supervision, and access to education and medical care. Neglect involves a parent, guardian, or caregiver intentionally ignoring a child and his/her needs. The key to differentiating neglect and poverty is understanding that neglect must involve the purposeful act of ignoring the needs of a child. Poverty is a socioeconomic situation where a person or family lacks the resource to give all the basic needs to a child. Understanding this difference is critical in being able to recognize when a child is in need of help.

You have the power to create positive change in your community by stopping the abuse and neglect that occurs in your own neighborhood. If you suspect child abuse or neglect is occurring, please report it to your local CPS agency or to the police if the child is in immediate danger.
No child deserves to be hurt. For more information on the types of child abuse, how to recognize and/or report, or prevention steps, feel free to contact Hannah at Live Violence Free at 544.2118.