Child abuse claims nearly four lives a day

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time to raise awareness about child abuse and neglect, and encourage individuals and communities to support children and families.

Children’s Advocacy Center workers and District Attorney Lisa Zavogiannis will be working together in the hopes that not one more child suffers from abuse ‘ neglect, emotional, physical or sexual ‘ in Warren County.

‘Not One More’ will be a four-week campaign featuring awareness, prevention, safety, and building better families. This week will focus on awareness.

The numbers associated with child abuse are as shocking as the act itself. In 2005, the most recent year for which the U.S. government has figures, 12.1 of every 1,000 American children, almost 900,000 in all, suffered abuse by adults. Parents are the abusers almost 80 percent of the time.

Every day, about four children die in the U.S. because of abuse or neglect, most of them babies or toddlers. Those are just the known cases. It is estimated two-thirds of the cases involving child abuse or neglect go unreported.

According to Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee, about 3 million reports were made to child protective services about the safety and well-being of more than 5.5 million children in 2004. As a result of these reports, about 872,000 children were found to be victims of child abuse or neglect.

Of these, more than 60 percent were neglected, about 18 percent were physically abused, 10 percent were sexually abused, and 7 percent were emotionally maltreated.

Child deaths are the most tragic results of maltreatment. In 2004, an estimated 1,490 children died due to abuse or neglect. More than one-third of these deaths were caused by neglect.

Abuse comes in all forms:

‘ Physical ‘ which includes shaking, hitting, beating, burning or biting a child;

‘ Emotional ‘ which includes constantly blaming or belittling a child, yelling or shaming;

‘ Sexual ‘ which includes incest, any sexual activity, or exposure to sexual stimulation;

‘ Neglect ‘ a pattern of failure to provide for the child’s physical needs, such as food, clothing, shelter and medical care.

Child abuse affects children of every age, race and income level, but the youngest children are most vulnerable to abuse. Children younger than 1 accounted for 41 percent of all abuse-related deaths reported in 2002; 76 percent of those killed were younger than 4.

There is a cycle to abuse. Many of the victims will become abusers themselves.

Children learn how to deal with anger and frustration from their parents. Victims of child abuse need counseling and their parents need parenting education to help break the cycle.

Child Protective Services takes all calls for suspected child abuse and neglect. Reports can be made by calling 1-800-54-ABUSE. If known, they will ask the child’s name, location, name and relationship of the person believed to be the abuser, what has been seen or heard, and others who might know about the abuse. The name and phone number of the caller is voluntary.

Children’s Advocacy Center is dedicated to serving children who are victims of sexual and physical abuse through prevention, education and interviews. CAC can be reached at 1-423-266-6918.

Zavogiannis will be visiting every school in the Warren County School System in April. On April 29 at 6 p.m. there will be a ‘Not One More’ campaign rally held at the Warren County Administration Building. Zavogiannis and several guest speakers will be available to answer questions.