Behind any child abuse statistic are heartbreaking child abuse stories. The reality is that even today, child abuse remains an “uncomfortable” subject in our society even with the rates of child abuse increasing. Child abuse reaches across all cultures,socio-economic lines, religions and educational levels.
Child abuse statistics are available to the public to make anyone aware of how common it is. I wanted to remind people that during this month of April, please educate yourself more on the topic of child abuse and learn the signs and-ACT. You could make a donation or volunteer at a child abuse prevention non-profit. Here are a few statistics I found about child abuse that will not just make you think about the problem, but perhaps stand up and make a difference in the prevention of child abuse:
- 3 million reports of child abuse were reported in ’06 However experts argue that the real existing number of actual child abuse is triple the amount that is reported.
- Every 10 seconds, a report of child abuse is made
- Of the number of reported rapes of children under 12 years old,90% knew their perpetrator
- 79% of the children who are killed because of abuse are younger than 4 years old.
- There are 4 fatalities due to child abuse and neglect each year
If you suspect abuse of a child, please report. Once the signs are picked up on ( like unexplained bruises, behavior changes/regressive behaviors, fear of certain adults/caregivers). Sometimes older children who are suffering from abuse, will not come right out and disclose, but they may tell their friends over time about their abuse. If you happen to be a parent, listen to what your child tells you about another child. If things don’t sound right, and you strongly suspect abuse or neglect make the call. You can save a child’s life.
Source: Childhelp and Child Abuse Charity.com
April 5 ,2008 at 6:41 pm
Thank you! I’m happy to find you are getting the word out about this heartbreaking problem.
As part of this month’s focus on child abuse prevention I am circulating a petiton on line.
The purpose of the petition is to ask Congress to hold hearings and take action to fix what they can of the broken Child Welfare System.
The Title of the Petition is: Children Die When Child Protective Services Fail Them.
If you would like to sign it, here’s the URL.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/children-die-when-child-protective-services-fail-them
Thank you for focusing the attention of your blog on this issue!
A Child is Waiting.
Take Care…Be Aware,
Nancy Lee Gray )AKA ChildPerson)
April 9 ,2008 at 5:50 am
Thanks for the petition url Nancy, I am going to sign right now and I’m going to send the url petition to everyone I know because congress HAS TO fix the system that is supposed to protect these children! Too many children are suffering and dying because the system is failing them on all levels.To any of the blog readers, PLEASE take time out to go and sign this. The children need our help.
October 13 ,2008 at 6:57 am
I have noticed an image on your website. “it shouldn’t hurt to be a child” picture. I was wondering if its possible to use this picture in my coursework. For im doing a campaign.
Please contact back to let me know
Thank you in advance
Sarah
March 12 ,2009 at 7:39 am
I don’t think child abuse is right. I know how it feels to be abused. I was sexual abused when I was a little girl and it hurt. I did not know why he was doing it but he told me that it was ok so I let him do it. I never told anybody till I was about 13 or 14. So he got sent to prison and died there, I never let anyone hurt me like that ever again.
April 26 ,2010 at 4:50 pm
CHILD ABUSE DOES NOT = DISCIPLINE
All my life i had been abuse. Physically, emotionally and witness my sister being abuse sexually. At the age of eighteen i fled my house and moved on my own…. with no one beside me. Currently I am graduating from College with a B.A the age of 22. I have a loving boyfriend who recently made me a fiance. I still have my support of my friends and my other siblings who were abused. We all moved out of our parents house and my sister is currently a mother with a loving husband.. ABUSE WILL NEVER BE ACCEPTED EVER IN OUR HOUSEHOLD! This is a message that to others who are recovering or undergoing abusive circumstance. REMAIN STRONG!!!!!! NOT ONLY FOR YOURSELF BUT THE FUTURE YOU MAY HAVE! For everyone who is against child abuse, send the message. maybe one day we could be non existent to our reality.
March 25 ,2009 at 8:58 pm
I am 18 now…
i was hit from ages 3-14. I was also raped 4 times in my childhood.
December 2 ,2009 at 2:38 pm
I was abused as much as you but I was abused mentaly and phisicaly. I also wanted to tell you all that I look up to you. All of you are strong. God bless you all
May 27 ,2009 at 7:54 pm
A child should not have to be scared to get out of bed. Wet the bed & be half beaten to death.
Hi im Jaquelin and i was not abuse but i saw my mother and brother get kicked, pushed, punched and with a baby girl in her tummy my mother said “NO MORE” and left that beast now my brother is tramitized for life and so is my mom. He kiled my sister and now Im ashamed to call him dad.
March 26 ,2010 at 11:49 am
that is so sad ……… i am sorry it happened to ur sis
November 16 ,2010 at 8:15 am
YOur story brings me to tears…
May 29 ,2009 at 6:41 pm
To anyone that was ever abused, you must remember to first tell somebody and get help for the trauma to your mind and body in order to heal. and second, it was NOT your fault, it was your abuser that is not “normal” and not you. thanks to all who have posted their stories here.
August 6 ,2009 at 1:20 am
i was abused bouth ways by my bilogcal pairnts and i want yall to know it wasnt mine falut it was theres i just wana help out kids and pople that has been abused please email me ljwomack3303@aol.com love u allways laurie
August 19 ,2009 at 5:19 am
Hi everyone, i am doing research for a project on child abuse in different countries, i came across this site and was wondering if anyone was able to give me more information, or have any sources that i could look at.
thanks
my email address is shaz_4892@hotmail.com
xx
October 8 ,2009 at 9:48 am
i have been doing a research on child abuse for my senior project and i wanted to know if i could interview someone online for more resources… Thank you
redrebelchick2006@yahoo.com
November 12 ,2009 at 12:06 am
Do you still need to interveiw??? I was sexualy and physically abused as a young teenager….
November 11 ,2009 at 11:58 pm
If You Are Abused, (if someone touches you or hits you or doesnt feed you ) Then Listen To Me, It Is NOT YOUR FAULT!!! When You Go OutSide Or To School, Find An Adult Or Teacher And Tell Them… Tell Them What Is Happening And Who Is Doing It… I Promise It Will Help…Don’t Be Scared Of What Will Happen If you Do this, Be Scared of What Will Happen if you Don’t….
February 26 ,2010 at 10:59 am
i am very glad that someone is trying to get the word out because when i was a kid there wasn’t anybody to safe me from the abuse my parents and foster family did to me. so thank you for taking control on this injustice.
April 27 ,2011 at 3:33 pm
Jon I understand exactly what you are saying. The only thing tha would have happened if I reported the abuse to someone is my father would have been notified and I would be beaten again or worse. The saying all of us were told is “What goes on at home stays at home”.
March 15 ,2010 at 1:00 pm
Thanks for your blog. Together, we are making a difference. http://womenspeakout.wordpress.com/
April 4 ,2010 at 11:14 pm
Thank you for this reminder. I will post this message as well and keep up the noble fight.
Eric
http://eazywanderer.wordpress.com/
April 21 ,2010 at 10:53 pm
I am a Junior at Everett Alvarez High School here in Salinas CA, and I am doing a project on child abuse I just had to strop to see your website and it caught my attention. I am thinking on making blue ribbions to show my careness on child abuse and how I want it to stop!
May 22 ,2010 at 1:55 pm
I’d like to share a personal story. It’s really worth the read because then you will get a better understanding for the cause and the reason we need your help.
Firstly, picture a child, a young little girl, blonde long hair, a face as perfect as a porcelain doll, she’s vibrant, full of life, as innocent as a child can be, despite being abandoned by her natural mother, she lives in an orphanage, but she’s such a happy little girl, she’s observing and absorbing the natural beauty that life has to offer, learning new lessons with ever step, when she reached the “terrible two’s” she was incredibly cute, inquisitive and a mischievous little terror. By this age she has learnt how to run and talk, and she would want to tell you everything. Every second of her day is an adventure. Despite her continuous need to breath in life that is exploding around her, if you actually sit and watch a child, it is truly the most educating and rewarding experience you could ever imagine, children’s energy is electrifying, their tiny bodies, so full of life, their laughter is intoxicating and their innocence is naïve and uncorrupted and as parents we teach our children to respect their elders and to do as they are told in order to be able to set boundaries and enforce discipline, and all the while, this is something all responsible and loving parents do for their children.
Sadly this little girl’s naive concept of love was shown by obeying her “parents or an adult”, and when an adult tells that little girl that she is the most beautiful child in the world, and the love he has for her is something so special, she is compelled to believe it, because her “weekend Daddy” said so, and he’s the first real Dad she ever knew, because she never met her own Daddy, he ran away when he found out she was going to be brought into the world, so when her new Dad deludes her into false security and he feels the need to steal the innocence of that little girl away by sexually penetrating that tiny child’s body, tearing her in places she has not even learnt the use for, she lied to her new Mommy and said she slipped on the slide and hurt herself, “Daddy said everyone would believe it if I stuck to that story and it worked like magic, even though I was always told by the nuns that you should never lie, truth is, no one suspected a thing, “Daddy” would not get into trouble now, and he will still love me. With tears streaming down her face, he tells her he’s sorry if his love hurts her, but he can’t help loving her, so much so, that he can’t just have her as “Daddy’s little girl” he loves her in such a special way that no one can ever know about, it’s his secret love for his little girl, and if she ever tells “Mommy” or anybody at the orphanage, then they will take her away from him and she will be forced to stay alone at the orphanage, then no one will love her.
Whilst the Love become a lot more frequent and very overwhelming, her little inexperienced body learnt to stretch to accommodate his continuous penetration, she hid the tears because she knew he would be hurt to see her cry, after all, all he was doing was loving his little girl in a way that no one ever could. Over time she accepted that that was the way people showed love, and when the man who took the children to camps from the orphanage also touched the girls, she knew it was all ok, because “Daddy” said it’s a very special kind of love, so even though it hurt her really bad sometimes, she felt like the luckiest little girl alive to now have two “Daddy’s” who love her so very much… This carried on until she was 12years old, because after her own Mommy got married, her new Daddy also wanted to love her in the same way, but by this time, She had enough of “Daddy’s Love” and put a stop to all the “special love” they showered their little girl with. Now the reason you are reading this story is because I am that little girl, I’m a survivor of sexual, physical and emotional abuse. But through my “Special Love” I’ve managed to now help other little girls, who feel just as vulnerable and alone as I did, despite the pain, the anger and the disgust I had to face and deal with over the years, that happened to me for a reason, it is because of that nauseating, manipulated, fraudulent, twisted love that SA Abused Children was born, and now I get to help thousands of other children who face the same pain I did, and the irony of it all… the one thing I truly ever wished for… The one and only thing I ever wanted more in this world than anything else… I just wanted be “Daddy’s little girl”
Once a victim, but now an activist…
Terry, South Africa
May 26 ,2010 at 5:56 pm
Congratulations on your courage and fortitude, Terry. It is through work like yours that these issues are uncovered and addressed. Keep up the good work and reach out for the support you need to do it healthily. Much luck to you.
http://onmaxsside.wordpress.com/
June 26 ,2010 at 11:01 pm
Thank you for your encouragement, but I’ve dealt with this in my own time and in my own way, allowing me to help thousands of other children as well as mothers who have to run from abuse. Sadly I don’t know how much longer I will be able to do it as the owner we are renting from wants to sell and I just don’t know how to find the money, God willing, something will happen.
To all of you who have been abused, please, if you need an ear or a word of advise, please contact me any time, I know its not easy to talk about it, but the sooner you realise that it was NEVER your fault, the easier it is to start rebuilding your life.
God Bless
Terry
June 10 ,2010 at 12:37 pm
Ohh.. I hate it when children been abused.
I just want 2 say to the parents what if you
where that child what would you feel?
I just hate it so much.Be strong!!!
-xXx-Jasmine
October 24 ,2010 at 7:37 am
to straszne…
October 24 ,2010 at 7:39 am
much look to you
April 1 ,2012 at 10:17 pm
April is Child Abuse Awareness Month…
April 10 ,2012 at 3:00 pm
im doing a presenation about it today in class I have so much to say about it and make a better change to stop the cycle from happening over and over again. No child should ever live in fear and be hurt from thier parents I was abouse all my highschool years and have watch my sisters get abuse bad and have always been the one to stop them from getting hurt. I could not take it anymore Im currently going to school to become a social workers and live a much better life with out the VIOLENCE at home. I cant stand it. I wish parents would understand their child better because what ever they say they will not believe what is coming out of their ear. I have gotten beaten so bad from both side mom and dad have been reported sometimes 😦 but I am not telling the people who know what is going on at home. that I do not currenlty live there anymore. ITs break my heart to have to even leave but I dont talk to my mom anymore or dad. Im on my own with a good boyfriend and his family supporting me to make a good carreer for me. I am very blessed to have finally made the step of moving out because I should have move out when I was 18 but I only stay becasue of my sisters that are young at home with the abuseive mom. is not acting nice and different because she is going through a dircove and doesnt want to lose her kids. I feel sorry for her when its thier time to go she will have no left for her. because what she did to me . and I hope she stop and seeks some good help.