Advocacy Network for Children is planning a pinwheel planting ceremony in honor of April being National Child Abuse Awareness & Prevention Month. The pinwheel planting ceremony is to honor child victims who have been abused, neglected or have lost their life to abuse or neglect over the years. The event will take place on Tuesday, April 2, at 12:05 p.m. at the Hancock County Courthouse, 500 Main St. in Carthage. Local law enforcement officials, the mayor, Department of Children and Family Services representatives and the State’s Attorney will be present for the pinwheel planting and local agencies and organizations in the county, as well as the general public, are invited to attend.
Since opening its doors nearly 35 years ago, Advocacy Network for Children has advocated for thousands of abused and neglected children in Adams, Brown, Cass, Hancock, McDonough, Morgan, Pike, Schuyler, and Scott counties. Protecting and upholding the rights of children when wrongs have been committed against them is the heart of its mission.
Child abuse occurs at every socioeconomic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions and at all levels of education. Some staggering facts include: Approximately five children die every day because of child abuse; one out of three girls and one out of five boys will be sexually abused before they reach age 18; ninety percent of child sexual abuse victims know the perpetrator in some way and 68 percent are abused by a family member; and for every incident of child abuse or neglect that’s reported, an estimated two incidents go unreported. As reported by Child Protect (www.childprotect.org).
For more information, please call the office 217-223-2272 or Mandy Humphry (Court Appointed Special Advocates Coordinator) at 319-795-3714.
