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By Abby Zieverink
Child Abuse Prevention Month

Grande Prairie Caribou Centre raising awareness during Child Abuse Prevention Month

Oct 1, 2021 | 11:35 AM

October is Child Abuse Prevention Month in Canada.

On October 24, the Child Advocacy Centres (CACs), alongside the Grande Prairie Caribou Centre, are asking Albertans to #GoBlueAB in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month.

The Grande Prairie Caribou Child and Youth Centre are hoping to help raise awareness of child abuse in the community, by speaking up for the populations most vulnerable.

Grande Prairie PACE Community Support, Sexual Assault and Trauma Centre Executive Director, Jacquie Aitken says they hope to not only raise awareness about child abuse in the community, but also actions to prevent it.

“Many of the things we’re dealing with, if we can stop the abuse in children, it would tie with preventing medical and social issues.”

The Caribou Centre works with children who are identified to be suffering from abuse and helps protect them and prevent it from continuing by bringing in resources for the victim and the family.

Aitken says over the years, they have become more aware of how child abuse affects victims into their adulthood, both emotionally and physically.

“They’re talking about adverse childhood experiences, and the more adverse childhood experiences an individual has, the more vulnerable they are for cancer, heart attacks, mental illness, depression, and addiction.”

Aitken hopes that opening the conversation to allow children and youth to feel comfortable to speak up, will help prevent those issues.

“We’re often so silent about child abuse, and for many, many years people were alone, they had no one to tell what was happening, and they suffered alone with the trauma that they had experienced as children,” she said.

“If we can get early disclosures, then they’re not having that trauma for years and years, and not being alone with it.”

Aitken tells EverythingGP that abuse presents itself in many different children, depending on a variety of things including the types of abuse.

She says signs could include, but are not limited to:

  • Change in behavior
  • The general presence of the child, in terms of joy/being, withdrawn
  • Running away
  • Acting out
  • and more.

Program Coordinator Nicole Bockus says the first step for children suffering from abuse is finding a safe person they can talk to.

She says many children use teachers or grandparents as their trusted persons.

“Once they are disclosed to them, we do our best to get them into the Caribou Centre so we can have our specialized trained individuals in forensic interviewing, to do an interview to ensure these children are indeed safe and if they are in an unsafe situation, we then get them to a safe situation.”

More information on recognizing and preventing child abuse can be found here.

by Abby Zieverink