April is Child Abuse Awareness Month. 

Child Advocacy Center Executive Director Sharon De Boer reminds, "It's a time to remember the children who have suffered abuse and look forward to the day when children will no longer live in fear of someone harming them.

In 1983, Congress declared April to be National Child Abuse Prevention Month.  Since that time, communities across our nation and here in Rutherford and Cannon Counties have taken this opportunity to raise community awareness about child abuse, child sexual abuse, and drug endangered children. 

On Friday, April 11, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. the Rutherford County Coalition Against Child Abuse is sponsoring a community event in recognition of child abuse awareness month.  The event is open to the public and will be held at the Department of Children’s Services, 434 Jayhawk Court in Murfreesboro.

De Boer continued, “Many children never report child abuse and child sexual abuse to a trusted adult. Experts estimate that one in 10 children will be sexually abused by their 18th birthday and 90 percent of those victims never report the abuse."

“This means that everywhere you see children in our community – in homes, school classrooms, daycares, churches, Sunday schools, sports teams, choirs, marching bands, cheerleading squads, dance teams – there are children silently bearing the burden of child sexual abuse alone,” stated De Boer. 

For more information about the child abuse awareness month event, please contact former Rutherford County Coalition Against Child Abuse chairperson Tonya Hobbs at Kymari House at 615-594-1522 or the Child Advocacy Center at 615-867-9000. 

Please watch for more information this month from the Child Advocacy Center, Kymari House, and other organizations in our community that provide critically needed services for child abuse victims.