Pair Channels Outrage Against Abuse Into Web Site Communication Link

Marcus Lawson donated $30,000 out of his pocket. Cathy Ross took a year off work to volunteer. What inspired such generosity?

Lawson and Ross are partners in crime, or partners against crime, if you want to get technical. Lawson is the founder and president of The Force AGAINST child abuse, a nonprofit organization. The group is canvasing communities to determine what child abuse services exist using three categories: prevention, intervention and recovery of abuse survivors.

Lawson, a federal investigator, has been examining child exploitation cases for 10 years, and started The Force in September 1996. “When I worked my first child sex abuse crime, I was appalled. I had no idea how prevalent it was and what it did to people’s lives,” he said.

The Force hopes to create a nation-wide communication link via the Internet, accessible to charities, police and anyone interested in helping children, said Ross, The Force’s marketing director.

Ross, a child abuse survivor, quit her job to devote 60 hours a week gathering information and literature, while Lawson emptied his pockets to fund the Web site. As a result of their combined expertise and resources, www.endabuse.com is now up and running.

The site is designed to assess, compile and streamline information, making it easy to find the nearest agency to suit a person’s needs, said Ross.

As it develops, the Web site will include every child and social agency in the Northwest, information on the signs of abuse, where to go for help and the importance of child safety. Currently, the directory includes Spokane and Cowlitz counties and will be updated weekly.

A long-term goal for the Web site is to set up a survivors chat room and provide online, anonymous therapy, Ross said.

In addition to the online directory, The Force publishes a quarterly newsletter and provides education workshops on child predators, “stranger-danger,” and how to protect children beyond family child abuse.

The fight, however, will be a long one. Nationwide, more than 2,000 infants and young children will die from abuse in one year - an averages of five children per day, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. One in four girls and one in seven boys will be sexually abused by the time they are 18; one-third of those children will be under 6, the statistics show. And 80 percent of runaways cite child abuse as their reason for leaving home. In 1996, 2.9 million child abuse cases were reported in the United States.

How does Spokane compare? “It’s right on par with the national average,” Lawson said. In 1997, nearly 5,000 child abuse cases were reported in Spokane County, said Pat Miller, Spokane County Children and Family Services. Monthly averages range from 350-450 per month, she said.

There’s something the community can do, though. The Force currently has six volunteers and could use more. Also, the group needs monetary donations or businesses willing to display donation boxes to help raise funds. The boxes, set up at the downtown Subway and Peters and Sons Flowers, have been quite lucrative, Lawson said.

For more information, please call 1-888-747-SAFE, write The Force AGAINST child abuse, P.O. Box 345, Spokane, WA, 99210, or fax any time at 448-5068.

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