Letter of the Week: We must bring child abuse to an end

The possibility that your child, or any child, could become a victim of sexual abuse is unthinkable.

However, in the United States 1 in 10 children will suffer sexual abuse before their 18th birthday.

For every child who reports sexual assault, two others never tell. All too often children are shamed or threatened into keeping the abuse a secret.

They might feel they cannot tell, or they might not have the words to explain what happened.

As adults, we have a responsibility to speak up for children when they need us the most.

We must educate ourselves on the possible signs of abuse so that we might recognize when a child is being harmed, and wherever possible we must prevent abuse from occurring by educating our children.

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month. As a society, we must end this silent epidemic.

Sunflower House can help.

We offer training to children and adults on how to recognize and report child abuse, and we provide a safe place for children to tell their stories of abuse and to get help.

Michelle Herman of Paola has been president and CEO of Sunflower House, a child-abuse prevention center in Shawnee, for six years. She and her husband, John, raised their family in Iowa, where they worked in child welfare for three decades before moving to Kansas to spend their free time with two granddaughters.

This story was originally published April 3, 2016 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Letter of the Week: We must bring child abuse to an end."