Child Abuse Prevention Month is observed through the month of April in various ways by many community partners working together.
Dave Sharma of the Kauai District Health Office missed the Girl Scouts on Tuesday, the first day of Child Abuse Prevention Month, when he and the office staff planted blue pinwheels. Blue pinwheels are the national symbol for child abuse prevention introduced by Prevent Child Abuse America in 2008 to represent happy, healthy children.
The afternoon planting, which was assisted by the Kauai Police Department, is also a preview of the Kauai District Health Office open house. That will happen on April 11 as the KDHO celebrates National Public Health Week by offering the public an opportunity to see the many services and work done by the KDHO staff, including motivating students to investigate careers in healthcare.
The blue pinwheel garden has become part of the KDHO open house where attendees have come to expect to see the pinwheels spinning in the wind.
KPD invites people to show their support for child abuse prevention when police are joined by those from the Children’s Justice Center, Friends of the Children’s Justice Center, and other community partners in planting blue pinwheels to form a garden in the outside area fronting the police headquarters. Children’s Justice Center Director Karla Huerta is spearheading that effort on April 9, starting at 3:30 p.m.
Child abuse remains a critical issue in Hawaii, states a press release from the Child and Family Service, which has been a trusted advocate for Hawaii’s families for 125 years.
According to the Hawaii Department of Health’s 2023 Child Abuse and Neglect Report, 4,269 children were reported as potential victims, with 788 confirmed cases or a confirmation rate of 18 percent. The most vulnerable are infants under 1 year old, making up 16.6 percent of confirmed victims. Native Hawaiian children are disproportionately affected, accounting for 34.4 percent of confirmed cases.
CFS said nearly 88 percent of child abusers are parents, with 41.7 percent between the ages of 30 and 39. Perpetrators are almost evenly split by gender, with 47.1 percent male and 51.7 percent female. The most common forms of abuse include threatened harm, with 698 confirmed cases, followed by neglect, 152 cases, and physical abuse, 87 cases. Sexual abuse, 46 cases, and trafficking, 11 cases, though lower in number, remain serious concerns, CFS said.
“One of the biggest barriers to stopping child abuse is the lack of reliable data,” said CFS CEO Amanda Pump. “Abuse is under-reported and difficult to prove. We cannot solve what we cannot see. We need better tracking, stronger outreach, and a community-wide commitment to protecting children. Teachers, neighbors, healthcare professionals — everyone has a role in recognizing and reporting abuse. Every child in Hawaii deserves to grow up feeling safe, valued and loved.”
