Batavia group supports child victims of domestic abuse
Children in this country and around the world often are without rights in dealing with their lot in life. In 1959, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Children's Rights, making November 20th World Children's Day. The important day often goes by without notice.
Every child deserves the right to shelter, food and health care, no matter what their circumstances. They also deserve the right to be safe.
Some children haven't had it so easy. Some have been beaten. Some have had to go to school hungry. Some have had to sleep in the car since there is no home for them. If you think that these abuses only happen in Chicago or other urban areas, you are misinformed. There are similar cases of abuse right here in Batavia.
Mutual Ground Inc., a support group that deals with sexual and domestic violence, has been very busy this past year and many of their cases come from our area.
"We served 38 families from Batavia but we serve families throughout the county," said executive director Linda R. Healy.
In difficult economic times the abuse goes up, with fathers out of work and unable to find a job. Anger is often directed at the mother and the children. In recent years, federal and state funding has been cut to Mutual Ground while demands for services have gone up.
"No one really knows what goes on behind closed doors," said Healy. "Kids get angry at their mothers for removing them from the home or not being able to fix the situation. That is difficult for the moms, who often come here because they think that their life is in danger or the lives of their children."
Children also come to the agency after suffering physical or mental abuse.
"There are basically two types of children who come here," said Healy. "There is the perfect child who believes that she can control her environment by trying to do everything right and then there is the bully who models the behavior of the father."
Mutual Ground provides programs for kids as well as moms, and often the staff sees things that are difficult to deal with.
"We had one mom who made the decision to go back to her abusive husband and her nine-year-old son was very upset about it and refused to go," said Healy. "He told his mom that she would be carrying him out in a body bag before he would go back. It's very tough to see a nine-year-old child trying to hang him self with a wire coat hanger." Luckily, the attempt was unsuccessful.
Sometimes behaviors learned in the home are difficult to break.
"We had a three-year-old who wanted a doughnut and his mom said no," said Healy. "He started punching his pregnant mom in the stomach because that's what dad did at home."
According to Healy, the mental abuse that children often suffer from is equally as troubling as physical abuse.
"Children are the victims," Healy said. "When it comes to children's rights ... they have none."
If you would like to make a donation to Mutual Ground, Inc., visit their Web site at mutualgroundinc.org or send a donation to Mutual Ground, P.O. Box 843 Aurora, IL 60507-0843.