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Home My WebLink AboutClinton News-Record, 1987-11-04, Page 23Child abuse is a community problem BY LOU -ANN DE BRUYN One in 10 persons are victims of serious physical abuse. One in four girls and one in seven boys will be sexually abused by the time they ace 18 -years -old. In 1984, there were 1,284 cases of abuse reported to the Ontario Child Abuse Register. Of this number, 508 cases involv- ed physical or emotional abuse while the remaining 1,064 cases saw the victim sex- ually abused. In Huron County, there were 34 cases of child abuse reported to Family and Children's Services in 1986. Thirteen of these cases involved physical or emotional abuse. Twenty-one victims in 1986 were sexually abused. Child abuse is a community problem. It is a problem that is apparent both in the urban and rural settings of Canada. It is a problem that cannot be ignored. The. Huron County Community Child Abuse Co-ordinating Committee, formed in the fall of 1986, states its purpose as be- ing, "to help engage in the prevention of child abuse." At the helm of the commit- tee is Mary Sehl, a recent Community Psychology Masters graduate from Wilfrid Laurier University. "Every county has a child abuse com- mittee," Sehl said. She noted the Huron County committee was run by the Huron County FCS although 'other committees were run independent of county FCS operations. "John Penn, executive director at Huron County FCS, was one of the main people to get the program going. The program received a Trillium grant which means it is funded separately from FCS," she said, adding the program is being operated out of Huron County FCS simply because of Penn's involvement in establishing the committee. The interdisciplinary committee con- sists of a number of people, including doc- tors, lawyers, public health nurses, Bluewater Centre representatives, police officers, lawyers and FCS staff members. "This is not necessarily a committee of experts," Sehl said, adding, "The commit- tee is representative of the community as a whole." The committee is divided into a number of sub -committees, each with a different purpose. These include a Child Abuse Review Team ( which is mandatory at every FCS1, a Fundraising Committee, a Confidentiality and Protocol Committee ( a sub -committee divided into three commit- tees responsible for developing reporting medical, legal and educational protocols for reporting cases), a Public and Profes- sional Education Committee( a committee who will be developing workshops on child abuse ), and the most recently formed Research Committee ( to research child abuse in Huron County as well as treat - 1 ment toi ' ! - s ). i Mary Sehl, replaces Nancy co-ordinating committee While the committee is just getting off the ground, some accomplishments have already been established. "The public school board has a draft of child abuse protocol reporting and the legal and medical professions are develop- ing protocols," Sehl noted. Although child abuse is often thought of as a problem which happens somewhere else, Sehl said it is a problem of which the community must be made aware. "The idea of the committee is to ensure that people see child abuse as a communi- ty problem and not necessarily a FCS or family problem. We know the child abuse victim who receives no treatment usually ends up being the abuser. That's the pro- blem and we hope to prevent it," Sehl said. "Huron County is really a rural com- munity and abusive situations often occur when people are isolated and services to help are not available," Sehl explained. However, with 34 cases of child abuse reported in 1986, "Huron County is not necessarily worse than other places. It's not fair to suggest that Huron County has more or less than other parts of the pro- vince," Sehl said. "There could be more abuse than we know partly because of the isolation fac- tor. There is obviously more abuse than we know because abuse reporting just doesn't happen," she added. • Child abuse statistics, such as those listed previously, "don't give an idea of the incidents but, to some extent, they do give an idea of the renorting," Sehl said. Brown -Brunton as chairperson Regent's Fall Value Holidays Save up to $ 140 Acapulco f x11111 $379 NI)t1. t•.•: 75, 14, 21, 28 .: Puerto Vallarta $379 Nov. (i, 1:1, 20, 27 1A•c. 1, 11 Barbados ll',Irll $499 N11v. I, 8, 15, 22, 29 1/vv. (i, 1;1* ea,raztace i¢ MEXICO $399 PUERTO VALLARTA ACAPULCO El Tropicana CANCUN Handal) LAKE CHAPALA La Floresta ZIHUATANEJO Hotel Irma -Includes Breakfast & Dinner Daily IXTAPA El Presldente MANZANILLO Club Carousel Includes Breakfast & Dinner Daily 1 week from Price applies Nov. 6 to Dec. 31 1 week from Price applies Nov. 7 to Dec. 9 1 week from4 29 Price applies Oct. 24 to Dec. 5 1 week from$499 Price applies Apr 11 to 25 1 week from$499 Price applies Jan. 4. 11, Apr. 18. 25 1 week from Price applies Jan. 4, 11 1 week from$549 Price applies Nov 6 to Dec 4 Pala oto- t'd DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 1 Week from Friday Departures from Toronto beginning Nov. 6/87 5399 CLINTON 482-9300 For example, of the 34 child abuse cases in Huron County last year, eight were reported from schools, seven from police forces, six from the victim or parent, four from other Children's Aid Societies, three from friends or neighbors, two from doc- tors, two from nurses, and two from daycare centres. Child abuse not only involves beating or sexually abusing a child, it includes such things as neglect. For example, not dress- ing the child properly for 'the weather, leaving the child to fend for himself, neglecting the. child's health. "Child abuse is wide ranging," Sehl said. Sehl hopes the committee establishes it goals of helping to educate, prevent and treat child abuse. "Huron County is not necessarily bad. - There is no evidence to show we. have a higher incidence of child abuse in the coun- ty but at the same time we don't want to downplay abuse," Sehl stressed. Sehl not only received her bachelor of arts in psychology at Wilfrid Laurier, she also graduated with a bachelor of jour- nalism from Carleton University in Ot- tawa. She just completed her master's degree in Community Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier prior to arriving in Goderich two weeks ago. As part of her master's program, Sehl helped initiate a housing co-operative in Kitchener - Waterloo for new Canadians. 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