CARTHAGE, Mo. — Group raises awareness of child sexual abuse
Robin Standridge is a mandated reporter. As a requirement of her profession — as the drug-free communities director for the Alliance of Southwest Missouri and as a director and organizer for several children’s organizations — she is required to report any instance in which she has a reasonable suspicion that a child is being abused.
It’s a call that she’s made several times throughout her career. But it only took one unmade call to change her life.
“I kept thinking, ‘This is an awesome family. This can’t be,’” she said during the Stewards of Children workshop Thursday night.
Nancy Corley, director of Project CARE and leader of the workshop, said it’s a phenomenon known as the ostrich effect.
“We don’t want to believe this can happen in my home, in my organization,” Corley said of child sexual abuse. “We want to believe it’s the stranger in the park. It’s so much harder to believe it’s someone close to you that you love and trust.”
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