Winnipeg Police mark Child Abuse Protection Month

Winnipeg Police Service and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection have teamed up for their new campaign, called You Have a Duty to Report.

October is Child Abuse Protection Month, and this dual effort is geared towards raising awareness about child abuse.

Police received roughly 530 reports of child abuse over the past year – and they said there is plenty more that goes unreported.

The campaign focuses on making sure that cases that may otherwise go unreported are called in to police.

“We know for sure that kids have a really hard time telling us when they’re being hurt, when they’re being harmed, so we can’t rely on that,” Christy Dzikowicz, Director of the Child Safety and Family Advocacy Division for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We know for sure that kids have a really hard time telling us when they're being hurt, when they're being harmed, so we can't rely on that," Christy Dzikowicz, Director of the Child Safety and Family Advocacy Division for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, said.

She added that it’s worth tipping off police or Cybertip.ca if there’s any suspicion that someone is abusing a child.

“We need to be willing to say something. Instead of thinking to ourselves all the time ‘What if I’m wrong?” I think the reality is we need to shift it to ‘What if I’m right?’,” Dzikowicz said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We need to be willing to say something. Instead of thinking to ourselves all the time 'What if I'm wrong?" I think the reality is we need to shift it to 'What if I'm right?'," Dzikowicz said.

If you suspect a child is being harmed, you can report online at Cybertip.ca or call the Winnipeg Police Child Abuse Unit at 204-986-6222.