Two years ago, UNICEF’s Progress for children report, looked at data from 37 countries, and found that “86 per cent of children two to14 years old experience physical punishment and/or psychological aggression. Considering the huge variability in discipline is defined from country to country is it possible to design right policies, programmes and interventions that address child protection in the local context?

Oklahoma City police arrested a woman accused of forcing a 5-year-old girl in her home to live in a closet among her own urine and feces. The girl, who weighs only 19 pounds, was taken to a hospital. Asusena Marie Gonzales, 31, was arrested Monday on a complaint of child neglect and seven city warrants, including disorderly conduct. She was booked in the Oklahoma County jail but has been released on $20,000 bond.

FLINT — A preliminary examination in the case of the people vs. Donovan Lamar Haynes got underway today in Flint. Haynes, of Flint Township, is accused of actions that resulted in the death of his daughter, 2 year old Ti’Airra Woodward. The responding officer, Officer Robert Cavett took the stand and testified that upon arriving at the home he observed Haynes mother doing chest compressions on the little girl, with the defendant standing nearby. He said when he took over CPR the little girl had “no pulse or heartbeat, and was cold to the touch”. Cavett also identified photos of what were described as “large bite marks” on the girls thigh, arms, chest and face.

Childhelp® is pleased to announce the launch of Childhelp Speak Up Be SafeTM (SUBS), the organization’s comprehensive, research based, safety and child abuse prevention curriculum. The universal education of children and the adults in their lives is the primary prevention strategy of SUBS. This new abuse prevention program is an evolution of Childhelp’s Good-Touch Bad-Touch® program delivered in schools nationally since 1983. Childhelp’s SUBS equips first to sixth grade children with the skills they need to play a significant role in the prevention or interruption of physical abuse, sexual abuse, bullying or sexual harassment in their own lives.

Gadsden, AL – Etowah County investigators have arrested and charged a woman from Glencoe with Torture/Willful Abuse of a Child. According to Sheriff Todd Entrekin, 40 year old Tracy Payne McCord abused a 12 year old special needs child multiple times over a six month period at a home in Glencoe. The child was taken to a local hospital for treatment and later released.

Listed child abuse cases hit a record 55,152 in fiscal 2010, rising for 20 straight years since statistics began to be compiled in fiscal 1990, a government survey showed Wednesday. The figure does not include cases in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, as well as Sendai, which failed to gather data after being devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, according to the government.

NORMAN, Oklahoma — Police have arrested a Moore father for allegedly allowing a man to fondle his young, autistic son while masturbating. Police say Jonathan Mark Smith listed the ad for oral sex on Craigslist, and at least one man responded to it. Teddy Dean Davis is accused of showing up at Smith’s door back in January, and asking to see the 6-year-old boy.

CORONADO, CA – Authorities continue to investigate a possible link between the deaths of a multi-millionaire’s girlfriend and 6-year-old son at Spreckels Mansion in Coronado. Police were called to the seaside home of of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp founder and CEO Jonah Shacknai around 10 a.m. July 11 after his 6-year-old son, Max, was critically injured from what police said was reported as a fall from a staircase in the home, Coronado Police Chief Louis Scanlon said. The boy later died of his injuries.

“The Breast Milk Baby” doll is coming to America. It’s a doll that comes with a halter top that enables little girls to simulate breast feeding. The company who makes it claims the doll lets young girls express their love and affection in the most natural way possible by simulating natural nursing. While it’s a hit in some countries, many people aren’t excited about it coming here? Educational? Or is it too much? We showed the breast milk baby commercial to women and men but who better to talk to than a breastfeeding mom.

Pedophiles can be anyone — old or young, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, non-professional or professional, and of any race. However, pedophiles often demonstrate similar characteristics, but these are merely indicators and it should not be assumed that individuals with these characteristics are pedophiles. But knowledge of these characteristics coupled with questionable behavior can be used as an alert that someone may be a pedophile.

The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics has released “America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well Being, 2011” (NCJ 235151). The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is one of the 22 Federal agencies that constitute the Forum. Since 1997, the Forum has published this annual report, which provides detailed information on the welfare of children and families. This year’s report provides detailed statistics about youth’s family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health. Findings from the 2011 report suggest that fewer 12th graders engaged in binge drinking, more 8th graders reported using drugs, and fewer teens died from injuries. Read more findings in the full report, available online.

Andrew Dean McIntosh, 53, was convicted in May over 18 offences related to the sexual and indecent assault of three boys at Inverell, in the state’s northwest in the 1980s. The 53-year-old today faced a sentencing hearing over those convictions as well as 24 offences related to the sexual abuse and indecent assault of another teenager, Sascha Chandler, in the early 1990s.

“The accused priest has admitted the allegations made against him in police questioning,” the local police stated on their website on Sunday without naming the priest. An investigation into the case had commenced in early July, Reuters reported. Joachim Geyer, the spokesperson for the prosecutors’ office in the German city of Braunschweig, said an arrest warrant had been issued against the priest. The alleged abuse, however, had taken place some years ago.

Persistent management lapses and a poor use of technology continue to hobble Los Angeles County’s child welfare system, and two high-profile child fatalities from last year have been newly tied to the breakdowns, according to records and interviews. A special counsel acting for the Board of Supervisors has found that despite pledges to fix the problems, social workers still do not fully retrieve and evaluate case files electronically during home inspections. Not enough equipment is available, officials contend, and it often doesn’t work.