The bravery Shelley Vasey - bravo!!.... We cannot even begin to comprehend what those poor girls have been through.... tears course down my face when I read the whole article(s). Thank the Lord for women like Shelley... and the Police Dept.....
Never be afraid to tell! My neice was sexually abused by her stepfather, maternal grandfather, maternal uncles, and mother from the age of 4 to the age of 8 when she finally had the courage to tell. I thank God my brother had passed when we found this out. He would have killed all of them. This same little girl after she was rescued was on the Dean's list every semester while in Middle and High Schools and currently completeing her last 2 semesters of college and on the Deans list again. She is already an EMT, working on a Rescue Squad and at a nursing home while she finishes her nursing degree. I've had to make that phone call as a Day Care Administrator and while working for the school system. The ones I had to make were because of physical abuse not sexual. It's still hard, but MUST be done.
Quote:Yes that call MUST always be made, I would never hesitate if I knew.... bravo Coyote... and best wishes to your Neice....
Make the call. Some professions have a 'duty to report', but I think that's illusory; we all have a duty to report. There should be a lot of questions running through a person's mind if a child is chronically silent, behaving strangely, showing signs of depression, hopelessness. These abused kids usually leave clues everywhere, it's just a matter of knowing what the clues are. There may be other reasons for an unhappy child, but that's why there are psychologists, psychiatrists and counselors - to find out why that child is unhappy. Generally, abusers will do just about anything to have the freedom to do as they please. They will stop at nothing. In one case, a mentally ill child visited her psychiatrist every six weeks, so the abusing parent withheld her medication so she'd be too symptomatic for anyone to take any statements of hers too seriously. Abusers can be charming, deceptive and anything else.
I was a camp counselor one summer right out of college, for a week long camp where the kids were dropped off Sunday and picked up Saturday. We had a good week of training, and almost 2 full days if I remember right, all day long, of training to look for signs of abuse. We paid attention, like one would pay attention in class while studying for a test. Until the kids came. There were some we suspected. There was one child that we knew. Even with recently having the training and classes, there are just some things that stun you, like a child of that age attempting to gain favor with the counselors in the only way they knew how to. It was so hard to balance between rejecting those "advances", and providing a caring, safe environment for the child. The Saturday they were to go home was a long, stressful, and scary day. Social services came out. Then the police. The counselors who cared for the child that week had to be interviewed, along with a few other folks. I hope the child received the care and therapy they so desperately needed
My mother was an LPN, and I remember her telling about a two-year old that she had seen in the hospital for a UTI, and that it was obvious that the child had been molested. This was 50 or so years ago, and there were no laws governing reporting. This was a small town/rural area, and sexual abuse was a well buried secret. Thank goodness times have changed, so that some victims can get help.
