SAN ANGELO, Texas — Even with an average rate 19 percent higher than the Texas average, local authorities believe child abuse in Tom Green County is understated by the statistics.

“There’s tons more child abuse than I think the numbers can ever tell us,” said Deidre McCoy, director of community resources for the Children’s Advocacy Center of Tom Green County.

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http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2010/jul/29/silent-suffering-child-abuse-n-the-greater-area/

Child abuse cases handled by consultation offices hit a record 44,210 in fiscal 2009, rising for 19 straight years since statistics were first compiled in fiscal 1990, a government survey showed Wednesday.

The figure reflects an increase of 1,546 cases from fiscal 2008, when the previous record was set, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said in a preliminary report.

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http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100728x3.html

About 60 percent of the 67 infants and children who died from abuse in fiscal 2008 were aged less than 1 year old, and 26 of them were less than 1 month old, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Wednesday.

A ministry expert panel said the figures show the nation’s child-rearing support systems urgently need to be expanded and reinforced.

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http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20100729TDY03T03.htm

Report: Child neglect, abuse on the rise – Latest DSS figures show 30 percent jump

SHELBY — Within one year, confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect jumped 30 percent in Cleveland County, according to figures recently released by the Department of Social Services. For fiscal year 2009, there were more than 360 substantiated cases, the majority being neglect-related issues.

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http://www.shelbystar.com/news/shelby-48468-latest-abuse.html

ATLANTA–A report by federal monitors says foster children in Fulton and DeKalb counties are being abused and neglected at the highest rate in four years. The report found that 25 of just over 21-hundred children were abused or neglected.

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http://www.gpb.org/news/2010/07/23/urban-foster-child-abuse-spikes

QUEENSLAND–

The Education Department has revealed it is projecting more than 15,000 suspected child harm reports will have been made by staff in both private and state schools for last financial year.

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http://www.news.com.au/national/queensland-schools-file-12000-child-harm-reports/story-e6frfkvr-1225895831827

An unusually hot summer has prompted many residents to take to the water, and first responders are seeing more fatal drownings than in years past. It’s a trend that is concerning officials and one they say could easily be avoided.

“So far this year, we have already had five drownings and last year all total we had six,” said Marie Blevins, EMS training officer. “We are on the increase, and we’re concerned that this number can continue to rise, and we want to try and prevent it.”

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http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100716/HENDERSONVILLE01/100716049/2139/Child+drownings+%E2%80%98on+the+rise%E2%80%99

While the number of cases overall has declined, child advocacy centers in West irginia are busier. The centers connect agencies that deal with child abuse and neglect cases in an effort to make investigations and prosecution more effective.

The centers saw more than a 25 percent increase in the number of children served last year than the year before. Chittenden said she doesn’t think that’s an indication that the statistics are wrong.

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http://www.wvpubcast.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=15668

Twenty-one women who say their reports of rape or sexual abuse were dismissed by Baltimore police have reached out to a hot line established this week to ensure that officials are handling complaints properly.

More than half of them asked authorities to reopen their criminal case and pursue possible leads. All their reports will be forwarded to auditors seeking to find out why Baltimore police lead the nation in the percentage of possible sex crimes that detectives conclude are false or baseless.

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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-rape-report-hotline-20100701,0,497945.story

Given the shocking number of India’s children facing molestation over 53 per cent of the under-18 population, according to an estimate a strong law for tackling child sexual abuse has been long overdue.

Existing laws dealing with sexual offences do not specifically address sexual abuse of children. Legally, only rape and sodomy can lead to criminal conviction. Anything less than rape amounts to ‘outraging the modesty’ of the victim. The draft Protection of Children from Sexual Assault Bill, 2010, aims at recognising the broad range of sexual abuses which children may be subjected to.

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Home/Opinion/Edit-Page/Protect-Our-Children/articleshow/6131635.cms

MIDLAND, TX – A drastic spike in child abuse cases has one local advocacy group trying to find help. The abuse is happening all across the Basin, but the latest surge of cases are in Midland County. Most of the children being hurt are under the age of five.

This time last year our West Texas Court Appointed Special Advocates served 232 children and as of May of this year that number jumped to 344. CASA of West Texas says usually Howard County holds the most abuse reports but recently the cases have climbed in Midland County. CASA works with 7 counties in our West Texas area and about 1/3 of those cases are in Midland alone. They say, that’s most likely due to the growing population, domestic violence and the economy.

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http://www.newswest9.com/Global/story.asp?S=12693130

We must not wait to address widespread child abuse

“If the most prosperous country in the world can afford to fight two wars, battle terrorism in far-off lands and bail out Wall Street, why can’t it offer its most vulnerable and voiceless citizens anything but bureaucratic red tape?”

That is the question asked by Seema Jilani in a recent article in McClatchy Newspapers about the growing problem of child abuse.

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http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=12&a=458258