October is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and every member of the community has a responsibility to prevent abuse and protect children.

"It is a tough topic but I think it's hugely important that people don't shy away or be afraid to have those conversations and talk about these topics," says Detective Sergeant Shaunna Neufeld with the Winnipeg Police Service. 

Det Sgt Neufeld has three daughters herself. She's also worked on the missing persons unit in the past. 

"Boys and girls get abused both sexually and physically, and often it someone who's known to them. There are no real defining characteristics of what an offender looks like."

There are signs adults can spot when it comes to an abused child.

From a media release put out by the WPS, some signs to watch for are as follows:

Physical Abuse
Behavioural indicators:

  • Cannot recall how injuries occurred or offer an inconsistent explanation
  • Wary of adults
  • May cringe or flinch if touched unexpectedly
  • Infants may display a vacant stare
  • Extremely aggressive or extremely withdrawn
  • Indiscriminately seeks affection
  • Extremely compliant and/or eager to please

Physical indicators:

  • Injuries that are not consistent with the explanation
  • Presence of several injuries that are in various stages of healing
  • Presence of various injuries over a period of time
  • Facial injuries in infants and preschool children
  • Injuries inconsistent with the child’s age and developmental phase

"If you're dealing with children and they don't seem themselves, if there's a change in their behaviour if a child is explaining an injury and it's not consistent with what you're seeing, that's a huge flag," says Neufeld.

She explains that teachers can be in a position to potentially build trust and spot certain signs of child abuse, being around children all day.

When someone suspects a child is being abused, whether emotionally, physically, sexually, or by being neglected, Neufeld explains what to do.

"If a child opens up and an adult been advised to abuse, in Manitoba if we suspect or believe abuse is occurring we have an obligation to report that. The next step is to liaise with Child and Family Services (CFS)."

If anyone suspects that abuse is occurring, the first line of contact is with CFS or ANCR. However, if there is an imminent threat, people need to take it a step further.

"We deal with Child and Family Services on a daily basis and the Child Investigation Unit. In some cases, it might be appropriate to call the police directly."

Neufeld's unit works with many children who have been physically and sexually abused.

"Often with sexual abuse, there is a period of grooming. A lot of these people are very close to the victims family, spend time with them."

She shares how to spot the signs of grooming, so parents can potentially intervene before it escalates. 

"They may buy the victim things, take them on outings, and then gradually spending more one on one time with the victim."

Some other signs to be aware of are as follows.

Sexual Abuse
Behavioural indicators:

  • Age inappropriate play of a sexual nature with toys, self or others
  • Age inappropriate sexually explicit drawing and/or descriptions
  • Bizarre, sophisticated or unusual sexual knowledge
  • Prostitution
  • Seductive behaviours

If physical indicators are present, action should be taken as well.

"Sometimes there's 'spidey-senses', right? If someone feels that something is not quite right, don't be afraid to ask the child 'what's going on?' If you're seeing a change in behaviour, which could mean they're more withdrawn or acting out, being angrier, maybe that's a flag that something's wrong as well."

Neufeld has three children of her own, between the ages of 11 and 20. 

"Even with my own kids, I like to have those real conversations. Things happen to all sorts of kids from all sorts of families."

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