Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics Archives - Page 3 of 3 - The Children's Advocacy Center of Jackson County

We Bid Farewell and Good Luck to Toni and Jack

By Tammi Pitzen, Director of the Children’s Advocacy Center

There are people that you meet along this journey called life and you know immediately that they are someone that will have an impact. On your life. On the lives of others. You may not know why they are important. You may not know how long you will have their influence. But you just know they are important. You recognize it in their eyes. You know you will never view the world in exactly the same way. And every time after that initial meeting this impact is confirmed.

For me Toni Richmond is one of these people.

Without ever hearing her speak, you know that she is someone that you can trust. A calming force. I cannot know what it must feel like to walk into Toni’s office looking for healing and empowerment. Looking for safety after abuse. I can imagine what it is like. I can see the young children and teens that parade in and out of that office. I can see their smiling faces. I can hear their laughter and sometimes their tears. I can see that they are stronger because of their time with Toni and Jack. I see the results of her dedication, compassion and empathy every time I am in the therapy reception area. I see it in the sweet little faces of the clients coming out of her office.

My very first week at the CAC I had an experience with Toni that set the tone for my entire leadership with this team. I started November 12, 2013 as the Executive Director. It was uneventful. However, my second day was November 13, 2013.

This would be the day that someone chose to bomb the DA’s office.

At around 7:30 in the morning, I received a phone call from Toni asking me if I had the news on. I did not. I was trying to get myself and my son together to leave and start our day. I remember thinking, “Why is she calling me?” And then the next thing she said was she couldn’t get to work because there was crime scene tape on the street near our center and there had been a bombing.

She paused and heard complete silence on my end. I heard, “Tammi, are you there?” I responded, “Yes.” What she said was, “Well, you need to make a decision about what we are going to do today.” What I heard was, “You are ready for this. 1. 2. 3. Here we go!!!!” I look back at this and she was so calm and so matter of fact about making plans to move forward. I appreciated that. It gave me time to take a breath. It reminded me that this is what we do every day. Just with explosives — that we cannot see the effects of immediately.

This calming, graceful, stylish way in which Toni responded is something I have since learned is just her usual way of dealing with whatever task is sitting in front of her.

As much as I would like to say that it is not happening, Toni is retiring. She will be around from time to time, but it will never be in quite the same way. I am going to miss her. I am going to miss going by her office to visit with her and with Jack. I am going to miss the very calm, very reassuring way she deals with everything that is put in front of her. I am going to miss sharing our fur-baby stories.

If you have not already, please make sure that you let Toni know what her time here at the CAC has meant to you.

What about the throw away child?

By Tammi Pitzen, Director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Jackson County

Recently I spent time learning about child sex trafficking in the United States. Sex trafficking is the most common form of modern-day slavery.

Estimates place the number of domestic and international sex trafficking victims in the millions.

Most of the victims of sex trafficking are females and children. It is the fastest growing business of organized crime, and the third-largest criminal enterprise in the world.

It is a complicated issue. It is an issue that we are not, as a country, prepared to recognize as a problem. We rest easier at night thinking that it happens in other countries or third world countries.

In early June I sat in a plenary session at a national leadership conference in Washington DC and was surprised to learn that Portland Oregon has one of the highest populations of child sex trafficking victims in the country. Right here in my own backyard! I also learned that a very high number of these child sex trafficking victims are coming out of the foster care system as run aways, aging out of the foster care system, or connected to the foster care system in some other way. When I heard that, I have to say, my heart filled with sorrow.

I learned that many of these young victims are forced to have sex with multiple partners in a day — making upwards of $1500 dollars a day — but go to sleep hungry because they are not allowed to keep any of the money.

I have spent many hours sitting and listening to how big a problem child sex trafficking is. I have heard these victims referred to as invisible victims. And I have learned that they are invisible only because we refuse to see them.

These children, many times, are on the streets for years. Missed by no one. Never searched for. For all intents and purposes — thrown away.

We may refer to them as child prostitutes, but there is no such thing as a child prostitute.

Children cannot consent legally to any sexual contact. They are not complicit in their own abuse.

Many groups have begun to tackle this problem, but I am afraid we are not equipped to meet these young victims where they are. We need to adjust our traditional interventions to meet their needs in a better way.

I am the first to admit that I don’t know what the answer is, but I am hopeful that the answer is out there waiting to be discovered.

You may be asking what you can do now to help. My answer is simple: Do not close your eyes.

• If you see a child living on the street — make a report to your local authorities.
• If a child in your life runs away, please report it to the authorities.
• Educate yourself on the scope of the problem. Become part of the solution.
• Do not excuse the adult perpetrators of these crimes by blaming the child or by calling this a victimless crime.
• Remember this no matter what: A child is a child and an adult is an adult. The adult is always responsible for anything that is between the adult and a child.
• Let your legislators know that this issue is important and deserves to be part of our work to protect children.
• If you see or hear of children being abused in their home — report it. Most child sex trafficking victims become run aways because they are running from something and sometimes that something is abuse in their home.

Do not “throw away” these children. If you do, someone will “rescue” them, and it may not be someone who has pure intentions doing the rescuing.

The shocking facts about child pornography

By Tammi Pitzen, Executive Director of the Children’s Advocacy Center

When most people think about child sexual abuse, they think of those children in which an adult has touched a child in an inappropriate way. But there are also non-touching forms of sexual abuse.

In the age of fast moving technology, there are new victims who can be vulnerable to re-victimization over and over for the rest of their lives.

These are the children exploited by their perpetrator taking pornographic pictures of them and circulating them through the internet. There is no way to know exactly how many offenders these victims have. Many times these children are not aware that pictures of their abuse are being taken. There are thousands of pictures of unidentified children.

And technically every time someone views a pornographic picture of a child, it is abusive.