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SALT LAKE CITY — At least 9,062 children experienced abuse or neglect in Utah last year, with 3,741 of them in Salt Lake County.
And those are only the confirmed cases, said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill.
"If truth be told, there are a lot of cases that are not reported," he said.
The data comes from a Utah Division of Child and Family Services report. Child endangerment was the most common form of child abuse, followed by domestic violence-related abuse and then forms of neglect such as abandonment, educational neglect, failure to protect, failure to thrive or sibling/child at risk, according to the report.
Local leaders met Thursday to plant a blue pinwheel for each of those children at the county government building, 2001 S. State. The pinwheels symbolize National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April.
Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson called child abuse and domestic violence against children a "tragedy" in our community, and she urged people to "listen and engage" as a way to prevent it from occurring.
"You can be a conduit for change," she said.
Wilson thanked Gill and Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera for their work and "active techniques" they use to fight child abuse, including training for officers "so they can understand what's going on in a family."
County Council chairwoman Laurie Stringham said in her roles throughout life as a teacher, mother and Scout leader, she's taught about childhood predators and how to keep children safe.
"And unfortunately, in every one of those roles, a child has come forward to talk to me about abuse that they have faced," she said. "And we had to get the authorities involved, the parents involved, and have had to deal with that over the many years I've been involved in those groups."
Rivera said the pinwheel event "reminds us of all the victims of child abuse." The child victims unit in the sheriff's office stays "very busy," investigating cases of child abuse and neglect.
The sheriff asked community members to "be aware, take a look, listen. Children will let you know if there is something wrong."
Child neglect is a form of child abuse, Rivera emphasized.
When children experience or witness abuse, it impacts their brain development, Gill said.
But children are also "incredibly resilient," he said. Last year, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office created Camp Hope for children who suffered from trauma. During the camp, the children received one week of counseling and created happy memories, Gill said.
Everyone has a role to play in providing a safe environment for children, he said. The windmills should serve as "a call to action, a call to get engaged."
