Beaverton Police Raise Awareness For Child Abuse Prevention Month

BEAVERTON, OR - From the Beaverton Police Department: April is child abuse prevention month. It’s everyone’s responsibility to prevent child abuse.

On April 6th a garden was planted with pinwheels for prevention at the Washington County courthouse.

In Oregon, over 76,000 reports were made of suspected child abuse and neglect in 2016. Of the reports, 7,677 victims of child abuse and neglect were identified. Family members account for 94.1 percent of all alleged abusers.

Child abuse is defined in Oregon law and can be separated into eight categories. Some of the categories are physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual abuse and neglect.

To do your part, you should report any reasonable suspicion of abuse; you do not have to prove it.

If you suspect a child has been abused, call your local DHS office or local law enforcement agency to discuss your concerns with a staff person or officer.

Oregon Department of Human Services has put together a “What you can do about child abuse” guide.

The guide can be found online via the state website.

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