FARMINGTON — In 2005, there were 875 supported cases of child abuse reported in Davis County involving 1,291 victims. Last Tuesday, local community leaders united to fight such abuse.
The Davis County Commission and representatives from 11 Davis County cities signed a proclamation designating April as Child Abuse Prevention Month during a small ceremony held in the Davis County Courthouse.
Sharon Anderson, executive director of the Family Connection Center, told the representatives, mostly mayors, that there are several places around the county that support parents and child abuse prevention, including the Family Connection Center, but more needs to be done.
"All this is not even scratching the surface of the problem," she said.
Anderson gave the community leaders recommendations from the Utah Child Abuse Prevention Task Force on how to prevent child abuse. Those include supporting programs that prevent abuse; seeking more legislative funding for prevention; and promoting safe, healthy families in local neighborhoods.
Marty Hood, director of children and youth programs with Davis Behavioral Health, said people who could never tolerate having their child hit or sexually abused by others are somehow able to tolerate it in their own homes.
Child abuse has a physical, social and mental impact on victims, she added. The children are more likely to partake of harmful substances, their cognitive capacity is lower and they feel isolated because they realize that not every child's mom or dad abuses them.
"You can't have physical abuse without emotional abuse," Hood said. "You can't have sexual abuse without emotional abuse."
Parents need to be educated that no matter how frustrated they get, there is a way to help their children without using abuse, Hood said.
Commissioner Carol Page encouraged the leaders to be actively involved in the effort to diminish child abuse.
"A majority of child abuse cases stem from situations and occasions that are entirely preventable in an engaged community," she said.
During the ceremony, 15-year-old Stephanie Hughes from Syracuse was recognized as the Child Abuse Prevention Month poster winner. She designed a poster that will be on display throughout the county during the month of April to help raise awareness for child abuse prevention.
"There's so many kids out there that don't deserve how their mom and dad treat them," Hughes said, adding that she was inspired by the novel "A Child Called It" and the song "Concrete Angels" to design the poster. "They need a chance to be free."
This month, red wooden silhouettes will also serve as a reminder to local residents of the impact of abuse. The figures stand in front of the county courthouse representing the 211 cases of reported child sex abuse cases that occurred in Davis County last year. In 2004 there were 214 reported cases of child sex abuse.
"It's really haunting to see those silhouettes," said Commissioner Alan Hansen. "It breaks my heart."
The red figures will move to Layton Saturday and then Bountiful for the last week of the month.
Although the number of known child-abuse cases in Davis County has dropped slightly from last year, people need to listen to the "small voices," Page said.
"Many children are not believed," she said. "They suffer many years of abuse needlessly."
E-mail: nclemens@desnews.com
Contributing: Joseph M. Dougherty