Advocates emphasize importance of resources to heal from child abuse
May 22—When a child is abused, whether it be physical, sexual or emotional, it's up to the community to provide resources to help them navigate the trauma.
"We like to say kids are resilient," said Melissa Birdsell, executive director at Voices of Courage Child Advocacy Center. "I like to say kids are resilient with help. They're not just naturally going to recover from trauma with no assistance."
Many resources are available at Voices of Courage to help survivors of child abuse. Birdsell said Voices of Courage helps kids up to 18 and offers free therapy.
The unfortunate reality is some cries for help can fall on deaf ears, Birdsell said.
"Oftentimes when children come forward and tell their story, their caregivers don't believe them," she said. "We're going to stand for all kids."
One important way to combat child abuse is to keep an eye out for the signs. While physical warning signs might be easier to spot, behavioral changes can be an indicator of abuse as well. A child who would normally be outgoing could become quiet or vice versa.
"Physical abuse, obviously, you see the signs, you see the bruises, you see the maybe shirking away from someone that walks toward them kind of thing, but sexual abuse is really difficult," Birdsell said. "The main thing it does is change a child's behavior."
Additionally, a newer concern is children abusing each other with an increase in internet access.
"We've seen is an increase in the number of, what we call youth with problematic sexual behavior," Birdsell said. "Youth-on-youth types of abuse. That is something that is been a concern and a problem that we've seen growing over time. "
Birdsell said one area the community can work on is listening and believing survivors.
"Telling someone and then for us as a community, believing those people," Birdsell said. "When they tell us that something has happened."
According to The Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect, only 38% of survivors disclose they were abused.
That percentage is out of the roughly 600,000 children in the U.S. who are abused each year, according to the National Children's Alliance.
The Missouri Department of Social Services reports in the 2023 fiscal year in Missouri, 61,712 reports were put into the child abuse/neglect hotline involving 86,088 children.
"Statistically, we know, the kiddos who go untreated or their trauma is ignored ... experience all kinds of both mental and physical health problems," Birdsell said. "We know statistically that child abuse can affect you your entire life."
