Alaska advocates say severe child abuse rose in pandemic Follow Us
Question of the Day By - Associated Press - Friday, January 29, 2021
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Severe child abuse cases in Alaska have increased significantly at times during the coronavirus pandemic, experts said.
As students return to classrooms, child welfare advocates are assessing the impact of the pandemic on child abuse, Alaska Public Media reported Wednesday.
Visits by one clinic to children in need of hospitalization for severe injuries because of suspected abuse skyrocketed by 173% in the last year. The number was initially reported as 220% but didn’t include four cases that were added later to the 2019 count, Mike Canfield, a spokesperson for Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, said Friday.
Alaska children’s advocates say severe abuse increased during pandemic
Print article Severe child abuse cases in Alaska have increased significantly at times during the coronavirus pandemic, experts said. As students return to classrooms, child welfare advocates are assessing the impact of the pandemic on child abuse, Alaska Public Media reported. Visits by one clinic to children in need of hospitalization for severe injuries because of suspected abuse skyrocketed by 173% in the last year. The number was initially reported as 220% but didn’t include four cases that were added later to the 2019 count, Mike Canfield, a spokesman for Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, said Friday.
Print article The first time I walked into the annex in the maternity section of the state hospital managed by Doctors Without Borders (or Medecins Sans Frontiers, MSF) in northern Nigeria, I was astonished to see three postpartum women per twin bed. The mothers scarcely had room for themselves, leave alone for caring for their newborns. Many of these women were young, often adolescents, who did not choose and were not prepared for motherhood. The power structure in their culture did not permit them to advocate for themselves. I was outraged, because this overcrowding of the postpartum ward by MSF reflected its priorities. It perpetuated the notion that these women were powerless and without agency.