NOT FOUND: break silence.jpg Child abuse is a vicious cycle with life-long lasting effects. It’s a cycle that is very difficult to break in most cases. Humans are creatures of habit – good or bad. Dr. Richard Pan is a pediatrician in Rancho Cordova, and from his position has had to – on more than one occasion – treat the small, helpless victims of the habit of domestic violence.
April was Child Abuse Prevention Month, and on the 19, to help mark the significance, Dr. Pan, Assemblymember, Fifth District, in conjunction with the Child Abuse Prevention Center and the Sacramento Police Department held a press conference to publicly announce his AB 1188 initiative. The bill, titled AB 1188 (Pan), if passed into law will reclassify certain acts against children as “serious” and “violent” felonies, thereby increasing the severity of the punishment. Under current California law, crimes against children such as felony abuse that produces great bodily injury/death, assault resulting in death of a child under age 8 and physical child abuse are not considered violent felonies. The same is true for human trafficking and persuading, luring or transporting a minor under 13. It is Dr. Pan’s belief that too many times these crimes that are both serious AND violent produce no more than a “slap on the wrist” for the offender, putting them behind bars for only a short period of time. They then usually end up back in a position to hurt children again, many times much more severely than before.
“Domestic violence was as routine as brushing your teeth or going to the grocery store,” stated Chloe, the first or two survivors of domestic violence that joined Dr. Pan at the press conference. Finally, at age 14, the injuries that were inflicted upon Chloe were too severe to hide, and she was taken into protective custody and foster care. Chloe stated that these two things worked to help her break the cycle of abuse in her life and beat the odds. She graduated from high school and college. Statistically, only 50% of foster youth graduate from high school. Only 2% continue on to college and only 1% of those actually graduate. “The long-term effects of abuse are unjust,” said Chloe, “and the severity of the offenses are not fair… I long to help save the innocence of even one child.”
Elaine Whitefeather, now the Executive Director of the Domestic Violence Intervention Center, had a journey that definitely qualifies her for the position, but also that required that very intervention for her. “I was born into domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault. I normalized violence,” began Elaine’s story. She went on telling about four of her suicide attempts and how teachers – even strangers – reached out to help her. “Children suffer in silence. Today we stand up for breaking that silence. Perpetrators go free while more victims are created daily,” she stated. Elaine passionately wrapped up her segment with a challenging question: “Are we raising broken children? They are our future. We must make a stand for our kids and for our tomorrow.”
Angelique Ashby, City Councilwoman – District 1; Sheila Boxley, CEO & President of The Child Abuse Prevention Center and a representative from the Sacramento Police Department also spoke up for AB 1188 (Pan) and for breaking the silence for these victims.
In conjunction with the announcing of AB 1188, the Lisa Project was introduced to Sacramento. The Lisa Project is a traveling exhibit, coordinated by Gene Hardin, which encourages people – both victims and the general public – to do their part to help break the cycle of child abuse. The exhibit is housed in a modular building where individual “stations” are set up – each depicting the real-life story of an abused child’s daily existence in the nightmare that is their life. It is a self-guided tour that utilizes ipods® for a multi-sensory experience. It is a real eye-opener to a problem that for generations has been the closed-mouth “dirty little secret” that no one talked about.
In the US, an average of five children die daily from wounds inflicted from an abusive situation. 80% of the victims that survive end up with psychiatric disorders. Every day, 11 children in Sacramento County are abused. Studies suggest that the reported cases represent only about 40% of what is really going on. 30% of abused children will later abuse their own children. 36% of all women in prison were victims of child and/or sexual abuse. Some children have broken bones. Others have hidden marks. Many don’t have any visible signs of injury whatsoever, but ALL suffer emotionally – often in silence and in fear, not speaking out.
Dr. Pan, Sheila Boxley, Angelique Ashby, Chloe, Elaine and the Sacramento Police Department are doing their part to speak out by working to see that the severity of the consequences of these serious and violent offenses send a message to would-be offenders. We, the general public can do our part to help break the silence and the cycle by recognizing the warning signs such as behavior changes and unexplained bruises/injuries, reaching out to kids/parents in our communities, volunteering in programs that advocate for children/parents, giving by supporting efforts that protect children and making the call when necessary.
Keeping quiet does nothing but increase the potential for more victims and ever worsening effects.
For more information about AB 1188 (Pan), visit the web at www.leginfo.ca.gov. Click on the “Bill Information” tab at the bottom, then search for bill number 1188. For more information on the Lisa Project, go to www.thelisaproject.org, or call 916.244.1900. (Children under the age of 13 are allowed to visit the exhibit, but due to some of the graphic content are not permitted to have the audio device.)