Why the Cry of the Beaten Child Goes Unheard

Client:

New York Times Magazine

Audience:

General public

Goal:

Raise awareness of the reasons why adults often fail to report child abuse and encourage responsible reporting

Role:

Writing

From the neighbor who overhears a young child's screams to the doctor who treats the bruises and lesions on his battered body, more often than not, adults who are in a position to help abused children don't. They are stymied by concerns as raw as the fear of personal harm or of lawsuits; as subtle as subconscious sympathy with the abuser. They are deterred by societal ethics that warn against involvement in another man's affairs, and halted by their own uncertainty as to what does or does not constitute abuse. Factors twist together like the fibers of a rope and keep the helping adult from the hurting child. As a result, less than a third of the estimated one million American children abused each year ever reach the attention of child-protective agencies. If a greater amount of violent mistreatment is to be prevented, more must be understood about the dynamics of intervening, about why people don't come to the aid of such children.