“Diverse organizations are working for a global transformation against child abuse, increasing public awareness, and collaborating to assist victims and prosecute perpetrators,” said Sharon De Boer, executive director of the Child Advocacy Centers in Rutherford and Cannon Counties.
The Women's World Summit Foundation is sponsoring the third annual 19 Days of Activism for the Prevention of Abuse and Violence Against Children and Youth. This is a worldwide event that happens every year from November 1-19. For the first time, the Child Advocacy Center of Rutherford County and the Cannon County Child Advocacy Center are participating in the event.
“Child abuse is any kind of harm or violence done to children, including neglect, physical, sexual, or mental violence by someone who is responsible for them, or has power over them, that they should be able to trust,” reported the World Health Organization in 1999.
The 19 Day Campaign is a multi-issue coalition of diverse organizations and partners, including young people, involved in the fight against one or more of the 19 abuse issues listed in the 19 Days of Action Prevention Kit, working for a social transformation, mobilizing agents for change and informed prevention actors to help create public awareness and support at the national, regional and/or international level.”
During the 19 Days of Activism, the Child Advocacy Center has two goals. The first goal is that the Center will be sponsoring 19 press releases every day for 19 days to educate our community about child abuse. The second goal is sponsoring 19 Darkness to Light presentations to educate parents and grandparents how to protect their children from child sexual abuse.
Watch for more information this month from the Child Advocacy Center and other organizations in our community that provide critically needed services to child abuse victims.
More Information:
In 2006, the United Nations Study on Violence Against Children found “child abuse occurs in all settings: our homes and families, schools, workplaces, care and justice systems and communities. Not only does it have serious consequences for children’s survival and development, it diminishes our capacity to achieve our full potential as families, communities and nations.”
