Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape hosted a joint fundraiser at the Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel Oct. 20 to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect including physical and sexual violence.
 
Nearly 100 Philadelphians, including political representatives, business persons and advocates attended the event where former Pennsylvania First Lady Michele Ridge was the featured speaker.
 
“Not only does child sexual abuse cause a multitude of mental and physical health issues for victims, their families and even entire communities, but according to researchers it has a life altering, adverse impact that lasts a lifetime,” Ridge said. “The foundations of lifelong health are built in early childhood.
 
Knowing that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18 further motivates me to take action. Knowing this means that in any given year over 651,000 of our nation’s children will be a victim of child sexual abuse. “
 
When one considers that 11 percent of adults today report that they were abused as a child, it is a very loud call to action to work toward preventing abuse from ever happening.
 
Through prevention and intervention efforts Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania and the Vision of Hope project are working to reduce and ultimately eliminate the violence many children suffer.
 
Proceeds from the event were split equally.
 
Visit www.theirhope.org for more information on the Vision of Hope project and http://www.preventchildabusepa.org to learn more about Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania.