After all she's been through, Taylor* has no words...

stripNo child should ever suffer PTSD

Little Taylor was so traumatised when she came into Barnardos care, she didn’t speak a word.

Can you imagine what life must have been like to cause a five-year-old to never speak?

While we don’t know the full facts of her short but traumatic years, I can share what little we do know with you. Taylor and her three-year-old brother Kai* were found half-clothed, wandering the streets hand-in-hand near their home.

Kai was pale, lethargic and vomiting. And he had severe scabies. Taylor had ringworm and a bad lung infection. Both children were malnourished, and both had to be hospitalised.

As well as the physical scars, they have both been clinically diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Taylor and Kai’s home was found to be a place of squalor, with dog faeces, broken glass and piles of rubbish on the floor. Cockroaches were everywhere, there were dirty dishes and mouldy food on the kitchen counters, and no food in the fridge. There was an unidentified man lying naked in their house.

Thanks to the kindness and generosity of people like you, Taylor and Kai were placed into Barnardos care, and have begun to receive our wrap-around support with a range of therapeutic programs and services.

But they still need your help to recover, along with other children at risk of abuse and neglect.

Your donation today could help traumatised children access the vital medical care, counselling and support they need to heal from their trauma and have hope for a brighter future.

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strip In hard times, children hurt most

Many studies have shown that when families experience increased economic hardship,
the rates of child abuse and neglect increase as well.^

That means that as the cost-of-living crisis bites, children who are already vulnerable to neglect
and abuse, are now living at even greater risk.

They have no one to turn to but us.
And we cannot help them without you.

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strip Vulnerable children need your support now more than ever

Every 13 minutes a child is found to have been the victim of neglect or abuse.**

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46,000
children unable to live with their parents due to abuse and neglect.^^

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1,400
reports of child abuse or neglect everyday.^^

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761,000
children living in poverty.***

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19,400
children experiencing homelessness are under the age of 14.***

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strip You can help a child like Taylor find her voice

Your generosity today can help children like Taylor and Kai, who have suffered heartbreaking abuse or neglect, receive the services and support they need to recover from their trauma and hope for a brighter and safer future.

 

Health
with a kind gift of $75, you can help a child access ongoing medical care, including occupational and speech therapy, to recover from the harmful impacts of neglect.

 

Heart
with a wonderful gift of $125, you could help a traumatised child receive age-appropriate counselling such as art therapy to help them heal.

 

Hope
through an extremely generous gift of $210, you could help support a Barnardos playgroup where children like Taylor and Kai can build their social skills and confidence.

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*Models used and names changed to protect privacy. ^The Relationship Between Poverty and Child Abuse and Neglect: New Evidence, Paul Bywaters and Guy Skinner (2022) Nuffield Foundation. **https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/child-protection/child-protection-australia-2020-21/contents/about ^^AIHW Child Protection 2020-2021. ***ABS Census 2016.

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