Healing from child abuse is a long process which involves specific stages and if you so choose, ends with forgiveness. The first stage is acknowledgment. Despite being severely beaten, I did not realize what happened to me was abuse for two reasons. First, my mind blocked out the worse parts. Second, I did not have a point of reference, so what I experienced was normal to me.

Outside of individual cases, the subject of child abuse doesn’t seem to make news often. How do we keep the conversation on the subject of child abuse, while not diving into individual child abuse stories that feature blow by blow accounts or pictures of beaten dead babies that trigger and horrify us?

The DeMoines Register published an article yesterday, titled “Iowa to call on special medical team for some child abuse cases,” informing the public that the state is looking at how their child welfare system reacts to child abuse allegations.