Hart Renews Call to Engage Communities to Help End Child Abuse and Sexual Assault

Hart Renews Call to Engage Communities to Help End Child Abuse and Sexual Assault

Funding Secured by Hart Helps to Launch New HERO Project in Lawrence County

Washington, D.C. - With the month of April marking National Child Abuse Prevention Month and National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Congresswoman Melissa Hart lauded a new effort in Lawrence County to prevent and raise awareness of the abuse of children across the region.

The new HERO Project is a joint effort by the Crisis Center of Lawrence County and Lawrence County-based human service agencies to prevent, raise awareness and report cases of child abuse. In order to help launch the new HERO Project initiative, Congresswoman Hart helped secure a grant for $99,200 through the federal Children, Youth and Families program.

Congresswoman Hart, a national advocate in raising awareness and preventing child abuse and sexual assault, praised the launch. "While the abuse of children remains an all-too-common reality across our country, efforts to end this scourge must begin on the neighborhood and community level. The new HERO Project in Lawrence County does just that and is a tremendous step forward in combating the abuse of innocent children," said Hart.

"Those of us who work in the anti-sexual violence movement see headlines concerning the abuse of children too often," remarked Melissa L. Pearce, executive director, Crisis Shelter of Lawrence County. "That's why it is so important to educate society, particularly adults, about the perils facing our children."

According to statistics released by the HERO Project, one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually assaulted by the age of 18. In addition, 85% of child sexual abuse is committed by someone the child knows and is often conducted by someone they feel they can trust. It is estimated that more than half of abuse against children does not get reported.

Congresswoman Hart also worked to secure the passage of The Child Safety Act by the House of Representatives. The legislation, cosponsored by Hart, strengthens the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Program to enhance the ability of authorities to verify the residences and employment of sexual offenders.

The bill also requires sex offenders to verify their residence and employment with authorities every month and mandates in-person verification with authorities every six months. The Child Safety Act imposes new requirements on states to notify each other when sex offenders move from one state to another and expands the list of offenses covered by the registration and notification requirements to include foreign crimes and military offenses.

"There are over 100,000 sex offenders who have failed to register in communities as they are required to do under existing law. They are currently living and working in our communities, many could be residing near schools or playgrounds," said Hart. "I support this legislation because we must do everything in our power to safeguard our children and to ensure that these ‘missing' offenders are not allowed to slip through the cracks until they attack again."

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