Introducing Caring Witness

There is a fair amount of research implicating unprocessed child abuse and neglect as significant causes in adult dysfunction, from relationships and job performance to academic success and life happiness (or lack thereof). Unprocessed maltreatment may also have a big effect on sociopolitical trends and global events, so preventing child abuse is important all the way from the individual to the global level.

There is also a lot more abuse and neglect than people realize (or want to think about). In fact, pretty much every time I go someplace where there are a lot of children with their parents, I can be certain of seeing it in public. While it’s hard to know exactly what goes on at home, seeing mistreatment in public gives us the opportunity to do something about it, even if that means just pointing out that it’s a bad thing.

For the child, the importance of knowing that someone in the world noticed the situation they were in–and cared enough to say something–is difficult to overstate. Even a single intervention can have a lasting impact. But standing up for a mistreated child in public is also a difficult thing to do. In my experience it is almost always very emotionally volatile and even frightening.

I and a number of friends have made a commitment to intervene in abusive situations, and over the past few months I have noticed a big increase in the number of posts people are making on Facebook and some of the message boards I frequent about confrontations they initiated. Sharing the experience with friends and getting support and encouragement in return is a vital part of the process.

That’s what Caring Witness is for. It’s a place where you can post stories about times you intervened when someone was being mistreated, even if all you could manage were some encouraging words to the victim. A community for people courageous enough to confront abusers, supporting one another and getting the encouragement they need. Also a channel through which you can discover new ideas or “best practices” for a successful intervention–since obviously the best outcome is one in which the abuser changes their ways.

Join us! Learn More or Share Your Story.

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