Sadly in my area of northwest Ohio we have more than our share of toddlers and infants being murdered and heiniously abused by their parents' boyfriends/girlfriends. We must emphasize and educate single parents to not allow boyfriends/girlfriends alone time with their children until they are as sure as can be that the boyfriend/girlfriend are not abusers. Contact your local children's protective services for a list of risk factors for perpetrators of abuse.

I am personally sickened that a single parent would allow their own child to be abused, tortured and/or murdered all for self-serving reasons, e.g., receiving financial support from their live-in. If a woman births a child, protect that child and put your personal needs on the back burner. Get a job, instill dignity in yourself that you can be self-supporting and thus won't need the support of a perpetrator who will hurt your child(ren). Take personal accountability for yourself and your child(ren) or use birth control. And lastly, if a child tells you he/she is being abused, or if a child too young to speak shows evidence of abuse and you are afraid of involving law enforcement then for the sake of the child handle the situation internally and immediately to protect your child by not allowing the abuser access to the child. However, be aware that the abuser, relative or not, will go on abusing, be it in the park or someone else’s home thus putting other innocent children at risk. If perpetrators are not stopped they will go on abusing more than 200 children in their lifetime. Make a commitment NOW to stop abuse and thus help our society to become healthier, because many abused children grow up to become abusers. Stop the cycle of abuse NOW.

Hi everyone. I hope this blog receives some serious and helpful input/comments, etc. on the topic of child abuse and how we can prevent it. As the author of a nonfiction book entitled The Gift of Hurt, where I chronicle my abuse and founder of YELL & TELL: STOP CHILD ABUSE NOW, whose mission is to prevent child abuse through education, I hope this blog becomes a positive force in abuse prevention.