By VICKI BROWN
In recent meetings of Walterboro City Council and Colleton County Council, council members from both bodies declared the month of April as Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Awareness month.
According to the declaration, preventing child abuse, neglect, and sexual assault must be a community priority.
This comes on the heels of a new warning issued by the FBI regarding increasing incidents of sextortion of minors.
Kevin Wheeler, public affairs specialist at the FBI Columbia Field Office, stated that the FBI has received increased reports of adults on social media and online gaming systems, posing as adolescents, who coerce children to produce sexual images and videos, and then extort money from them.
Child abuse and sexual assault have serious consequences that affect victims throughout their lives. Data shows that abuse, neglect, and assault of children and adults can cause a wide range of medical, emotional, psychological and behavioral problems that continue into adulthood with treatment being costly to families and supporting agencies.
Hopeful Horizons is a local agency in Walterboro that provides treatment, support, safety, shelter, legal services and advocacy to the abused. The program also provides education to increase understanding of the traumatic impact of abuse/violence.
They often work in tandem with DSS, law enforcement, and the legal system.
According to their data based on national statistics, one in 10 children will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday, one in four women in their lifetime, and one in 33 men in their lifetime, so programs are needed to provide knowledge and resources, and serve as an effective way to reduce child abuse and neglect.
In 2020, Hopeful Horizons assisted a record number of women and children needing shelter: 114 women with 101 children. A total of 5,363 nights of safety were provided, and the average length of stay was 25 days. Workers assisted 29 women and their children in moving from shelter housing to permanent housing; supported 78 women and their children with rent subsidies that helped them get back on their feet and in their own safe housing.
In 2021, Hopeful Horizons family advocates served 384 families, held 258 forensic interviews and sponsored 50 forensic medicals.
Also in 2021, Hopeful Horizon’s child therapy and services team provided services to 577 children and teens.
