ROANOKE, Va. – Children are being abused here in Southwest Virginia—and you may not know it.
On Thursday, an event held in Roanoke aimed to bring awareness to child abuse in the community.
Volunteers from Children’s Trust read the names of the more than 15,000 kids who were abused in 2019 and 2020.
To protect them, they were identified as ‘Jane’ or ‘John Doe.’ It’s estimated to take around sixteen hours to read them all.
“Put community doesn’t understand the prevalence of child abuse. Today will open everybody’s eyes. Even though [it’s] not talked about, it’s happening on your street, maybe your family, your group of friends,” said Family Advocate Coordinator, Beth Eisenzimmer.
This is the first time the organization has hosted the event.