What do you do when a child is abused at home, maybe physically, sexually or emotionally? What is the Christian response to this?
In this interview, Fr. Mike talks to Clare Van Loon, Education & Awareness Chair for Childhelp, Inland Empire Chapter, about her own personal experiences as a child and then as an advocate for others. Clare reports that child abuse in the USA is staggeringly epidemic. There are over three million reports a year, which translates to one child abused every ten seconds! She tells the story of the beginnings of Childhelp, begun in 1959 by two young actresses who were in Japan and came across displaced children of mixed race – born of native women and servicemen. They started orphanages in Japan and then in Vietnam. Then Nancy Reagan, First Lady at the time, asked them to do something about child abuse in our country. They took the challenge and now it is a well-established agency with residences, advocacy centers, foster family aid, hotline access with 170 languages.
The hotline is 1-800-422-4453.They spoke of what we can do now and how to identify an abused child.