According to Madeline’s House, every 10 seconds in the United States someone reports child abuse. “This tallies a total of 8,640 reports a day and 3,153,600 reports a year,” officials said in a press release. “Of these reports of child abuse, over 1,825 children die every year.”

Madeline’s House wants the community to know the warning signs of child abuse.

“Often, we talk about the common warning signs for children possibly being abused which include: anxiety of doing something wrong, extremes in behavior, not seeming attached to parent/caregiver, unexplained bruises, shies away from physical contact, appearing on guard of something bad happening, bad hygiene, wetting the bed, etc. However, we don’t often talk about the warning signs present in parents who may be struggling and need help before it leads to abuse. Some of those warning signs include: untreated prior victimization, disciplining children while angry, chronic elevated stress, drastic change in heavier towards a child, treating select children unfairly compared to siblings and lack of support systems.”

According to the press release, Virginia has a toll-free hotline to report child abuse at 1-800-552-7096 where callers may can remain anonymous.  

“This list is not all-inclusive; for more information, visit Madeline’s House Facebook page or call our office at (434) 292-1077. If your child has been abused, and you need help/resources, call our hotline at 1-888-819-2926.”