Survivor of child sexual abuse supporting Family & Children’s Center advocacy programs (La Crosse Tribune)
LA CROSSE, Wis. (La Crosse Tribune) – All through her childhood and her teen years, Stacy Mitby kept her trauma a secret, terrified to tell even those she trusted about the abuse she was enduring.
It was some 16 years after the first violation, and three from the last, that Mitby confided in her mother, the first step in breaking free from the shame and guilt her abuser had inflicted on her.
Now 58, Mitby has over the past three decades worked to help other victims feel safe opening up, knowing abuse thrives in silence.
“People cannot keep it to themselves,” said Mitby. “You have to let it out, because the more people that know what’s going on, the sooner we can hopefully end it.”
With April marking Child Abuse Prevention Month, Mitby is sharing her story and supporting the Family & Children’s Center, where she received life-changing counseling and support as a young adult and went on to work for several years before continuing her advocacy in other ways.
“The Family & Children’s Center not only had an impact on me, it had an impact on my kids,” Mitby said. “Without the help I got there, I wouldn’t be the mom I was and the mom I am.”
The prevalence of abuse
Like many forms of abuse, child maltreatment happens far more frequently than most are aware. The CDC reported at least one in seven youth faced abuse in 2020, with the actual number likely far larger. According to Childprotect.org, for every instance of reported child abuse, two go unreported. And in 2020, 1,750 children died nationwide as a result of abuse or neglect.
On a state level, the Wisconsin Child Abuse and Neglect Report confirmed in 2021 Child Protective Services received more than 74,000 reports of child maltreatment, with 4,736 cases substantiated and 26 resulting in death.
In La Crosse County in 2021, there were 409 reports to child protective services, with 24 substantiated cases of neglect, five of physical abuse and 14 of sexual abuse. There were no confirmed deaths.
“Child abuse and exploitation is one of the most detrimental tragedies in our existence. It is rampant in our country, in our world, and we all need to be aware of it and we all need to talk about it,” said Mitby. “You can’t push it under the rug. It has to be talked about.”
Statewide, nearly 90% of the perpetrators of child abuse are primary caregivers to the victim, with men the main offenders in sexual and physical maltreatment cases and women culpable in most cases of neglect.
Child Protective Services in 2021 removed 2,508 Wisconsin youth from their homes, a 22% decrease from 2019. The drop can in part be attributed to efforts by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families “to reorient the child welfare system to a new purpose: strengthening all Wisconsin families to raise their children.”
Programs are in place to support this mission, including legal advocacy, mentoring of parents, and providing access to the resources and support needed to keep youth safely in their own homes.
However, reunification is not always safe or successful. A 2016 report from the Department of Health and Human Services, which followed child maltreatment investigations for three years, found 24.6% of youth who were returned to their home were re-reported to Child Protective services with an allegation of abuse by a family member.
