Through community training sessions, the Child Abuse Council of the Quad Cities is giving parents and teachers the tools they need to fight child abuse.
Lindsey Hornbaker, who leads the community education programs, knows that child sexual abuse is hard to talk about.
She also knows those conversations are vitally important.
"What we find is that it's only about 5 to 10 percent of the time that kids are going to come forward to talk about sexual abuse or to disclose that it's happened to them," said Hornbaker.
That's why the Child Abuse Council offers training sessions to teach adults how to talk with their children. The programs also focus on the warning signs of child abuse, and how adults can get potentially-abused children the help they need.
"Most of the time, signs of sexual abuse are going to be behavioral in nature -- kids who have sexual behavior problems, who knew a caregiver or were close with a caregiver and no longer want to be near that caregiver. You may see physical signs, but most of the time, it's going to be more emotional," said Hornbaker.
In Rock Island County, Illinois, and Scott County, Iowa, the number of children abused or neglected is enough to fill 20 school buses each year. However, leaders at the Child Abuse Council also point out that abuse is 100 percent preventable.
"It's really, really important that kids get help soon. The sooner they get help, the less likely that trauma's going to follow them for the rest of their lives," said Hornbaker.
In honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month, WQAD News 8 is partnering with the Child Abuse Council to help put an end to the violence.
To donate, visit http://www.childabuseqc.org/#!donate/ceut.
You can also text SAFE to 50155.
In addition, on Thursday, April 21, 2016, we will be holding a social media telethon. Watch the WQAD Facebook page for more information.