Gentle warning that the following blog post details facts and statistics regarding child abuse, and it, understandably, may be a triggering topic for many. We advise readers to use their best judgment on whether to continue with the article, and we are sympathetic to all for whom this may be sensitive.

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‍Here are trauma- and recovery-related resources.

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Here are resources to help children who you believe or know to be at risk:

• If you or someone else is in immediate and serious danger, call 911
• ‍Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline: call or text 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)

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Every year,  World Children’s Day provides us with an opportunity to celebrate and honor the accomplishments of young people everywhere. But it’s also an opportunity to bring conversations about at-risk and maltreated youth to the forefront of public conversation. Internationally, every day, kids are facing abuse and exploitation, and the risks to their health, safety, and development are immeasurable. We all need to take part in actively helping children in need and fighting the systems that harm them, and to do that it’s important to be armed with all the facts.

• 300 million children between the ages of two and four suffer regularly from physical or psychological violence at the hands of their parents and caregivers. This alarmingly high number translates to roughly three in four children who are abused, exploited, or neglected worldwide.
• Child abuse has a gendered bias, with one in 13 men and one in five women reporting that they were sexually abused before the age of 17. And, conservatively, 120 million girls and women under the age of 20 have reported surviving some form of sexual violence.
• Children who are abused risk countless long-term consequences. Beyond the immediate harm done to a child, recovering from an abusive childhood can involve a lifetime of physical, social, and emotional treatment. And given that abuse without intervention is often cyclical, children who suffer child abuse are more likely to abuse others as they grow up, creating waves and generations of trauma and violence.
• It is possible to prevent child abuse, and doing so is among the foremost priorities for countless institutions worldwide. To help at-risk children and end cycles of abuse, government programs, aid organizations, and public organizers are working to recognize patterns of maltreatment and stop it before any children are harmed.

Children are at risk of harm all over the world, but we’re not helpless. It’s important that this issue remains a priority and must be a conversation long after the sun sets on World Children’s Day. To make a sustainable impact, consider volunteering regularly with one of the youth-focused organizations on Vee, and pay attention to social action efforts related to children in your community.