"April is the cruellest month."
From "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot
The poem's opening line evokes a number of interpretations, among them the April observance of Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Ending cruelty to children caused by sexual abuse and neglect is the goal of Missouri KidsFirst, the state's chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America.
A Pinwheel for Prevention ceremony on the Capitol lawn Tuesday will be among their most visible public awareness efforts during Week of the Young Child activities, observed Monday through Saturday.
While the pinwheels spin outside, legislative actions remain for companion proposals sponsored by state Sen. Jeanie Riddle, R-Mokane, and Rep. Bill Lant, R-Pineville, to intercept and assist children who exhibit problem sexual behaviors.
Her bill, Riddle told a committee hearing in March, is designed to bridge "a gap (that) exists in the system for reporting and assessing situations where juveniles are sexually abusing other juveniles."
Existing law allows the Missouri Children's Division to investigate and seek charges when an adult sexually abuses a child. But the law has no provision for child-on-child sexual abuse.
"The result," the senator told the panel, "is that children who are being abused by an adult receive one response, and children who are being sexually abused by another juvenile receive a completely different, and often inadequate, response."
The bill is not legislation in search of a problem. Riddle said she has learned of three cases, sometimes involving a divorced spouse's stepchildren. And Emily van Schenkhof, deputy director of the Missouri Kids First group, estimates there are about 600 cases a year in the state.
The bills focus on assistance and rehabilitation, not punishment. "Research show that juveniles with problem sexual behaviors have tremendous rehabilitative potential," Riddle said, "and our state must begin to invest in creating a system to identify and treat these young offenders."
Child-on-child sexual abuse is abject cruelty; it may cause long-term trauma for victims and consign youth who aren't rehabilitated to a lifetime listing as a sexual predator.
No single action by government can solve all the problems created by unhealthy human relationships, aberrant behavior and the victimization of innocent children.
The measures by Riddle and Lant, however, focus on helping children - all children - and provide another step in the right direction.
- The News Tribune