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For some people, the only horrific images they will ever see in their lifetimes lies on a television or computer screen that can quickly be turned off. For others, reading hair-raising reports and viewing nightmarish scenes about abused children is literally part of their job – and doesn’t go away.
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. This year, please remember the local people who work behind the scenes, who deal with things most of us will happily never have to experience.
Think about the men and women who work with the Cherokee County Department of Social Services, HAVEN Children’s Advocacy Center, Reach of Cherokee County Inc., Guardian ad Litem and Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Victim’s Advocate who serve the innocent children. Think about the law enforcement agencies that are forced to investigate and capture the most heinous predators.
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It’s amazing that these fine folks can still smile in the evening after facing what they deal with all day. But they do it to keep more stories like this from happening right here at home.
“I was 3 years old when a relative started abusing my younger sister and I. I didn’t know if what he was doing was right or wrong. I eventually told someone, but they didn’t believe me. I felt so hurt that no one believed me. I never mentioned it to anyone else again,” said Pam Meintel of Murphy, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. “As a teenager, I had low self-esteem and gained a lot of weight. As an adult, I married a man who would also abuse me.”
Child abuse rears its ugly head in different ways, including physical, emotional, sexual and psychological abuse, according to online statistics. In 2020 across the United States, neglect was the most common form of child abuse among the 618,399 cases reported. In North Carolina that year, 28 children died at the hands of a parent or guardian.
The five different categories of child abuse include:
1) Physical abuse, such as hitting or anything that causes physical harm.
2) Sexual abuse, such as molesting, groping or rape.
3) Emotional abuse, such as yelling, withholding emotional connection, and demeaning a child.
4) Medical abuse, such as denying medical services that are needed or making up stories that put children at risk.
5) Neglect, such as failing to provide care, food, shelter or other basic needs.
Children “shouldn’t have to worry about hiding or sheltering a sibling from an abusive parent,” said Stephanie Swanson, the sheriff’s office victim advocate. “They shouldn’t have to worry about where their next meal will come from or where they will sleep at night.”
Report child abuse by calling local law enforcement. You may also call a child protective service, like DSS. The National Child Abuse Hotline is 800-422-4453.
Whatever you do, don’t just look the other way.
Staff Correspondent Anngee Quinones-Belian contributed to this report.
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. You can reach him by phone, 837-5122; email, dbrown@cherokeescout.com; or on Twitter @daviddBstroh.