Limtiaco launches child safety campaign in NMI

U.S. Attorney General Alicia A.G. Limtiaco formally launched yesterday the 2011 Take 25 National Child Safety Campaign in the Commonwealth, an initiative that encourages parents and guardians to take 25 minutes each day to talk to their children about safety and ways to prevent abductions.

In a news briefing at the Northern Marianas College campus, Limtiaco was joined by NMI Division of Youth Services director Laura Ogumoro in giving out tips on how families could ensure the safety of their children.

The initiative comes at an opportune time as the search for missing sisters, Faloma and Maleina Luhk, enters its 15th day today.

Prior to meeting with the media yesterday, Limtiaco talked to public schools principals and provided them information about the campaign and how parents and community members can effectively join the initiative. Besides informational materials, principals were also given emergency forms and contact numbers where they can report child abduction cases.

The Take 25 campaign is a national child safety public awareness created in 2007 by non-profit National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. This campaign begins on May 1 through May 25 each year.

May 25 has been observed as National Missing Children’s Day, which serves as an annual reminder that there are thousands of children who are missing and stresses the importance of making child protection a national priority.

According to Limtiaco, the center was established by Congress in 1984. It has since fielded 2.5 million calls on missing children or abduction cases. The center has also assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 157,000 children and has handled 972,000 reports of sexual child exploitation.

Under the center’s child victim identification program, over 40 million pornography images and videos were also handled.

The campaign is launched in partnership with various agencies, including the U.S. Attorney General’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshal’s Service, NMI Department of Public Safety, Division of Youth Services, and the Public School System.

An estimated 797,500 children are reported missing each year and more than 2,000 children are reported missing every day.

An estimated 58,200 children are taken in one year by someone outside of their family and about 115 children each year experience a stereotypical kidnapping.

An estimated 203,900 children are victims of family members and taken to a non-custodial parent while 24 percent of these abductions last one week to less than a month.

National figures indicate that an estimated one in five girls and one in 10 boys will be sexually victimized before reaching adulthood; while only less than 35 percent of child sexual assaults are reported to law enforcement.

In one year, an estimated 1.6 million children left their homes or stayed away overnight to escape physical or sexual abuse while about 38,600 of these children will have some type of involvement in sexual trafficking.

Besides abduction and sexual exploitation of children, Limtiaco said that many children also experience Internet dangers, online harassment, and exposure to inappropriate content.

Limtiaco said National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has developed some safety tips and conversation starters that will help parents and guardians initiate an engaging 25-minute discussion with their kids.

These safety tips include:

-Parents taking their children on a walking tour of the neighborhood and indicating which homes they may visit without them;

-Teaching children their full names, address and telephone numbers as well as their parents’ name and contact information;

-Instructing them to keep the house door locked at all times; and

-Setting rules for visitors.

Limtiaco declined to comment on any issues relating to the missing sisters Faloma and Maleina, who went missing last May 25, citing the ongoing investigation.