Dear President Biden and the White House administration,

At the date of the creation of this petition, April 1, 2023, it is now Child Abuse Prevention Month in the United States. Currently, around the world, at least half of all children aged 2-17 suffer some form of violence every year (via Pan American Health Organization). In the United States, at least 1 in 7 children will experience some form of abuse or neglect every year, and in 2020, 1,750, almost 2000, children died as a result of abuse and neglect (via Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). When someone looks at these numbers, specifically the statistics from our nation, they ask, "Why?".

What we fundamentally lack as a country is empathy, compassion, and knowledge, and that is why children continue to suffer in our communities. On January 26, 2019, a child named Rica Rountree was rushed to a hospital in Peoria, Illinois due to a large bruise on her abdomen. According to records from the Department of Children and Family Services in that region, Rica had given indication she was being abused as far back as 2017, however, every time it was reported, nothing further was done. 

The cause of Rica's critical injury that put her in the hospital was a merciless attack by her father's 41-year-old girlfriend who kicked her so hard in her abdomen, it caused peritonitis; ruptured intestines. When she arrived at the hospital, she was immediately taken into surgery, but she unfortunately died during the operation. When they performed the autopsy on her body, they discovered bruises and marks from her head all the way to her backside, but they concluded what ultimately ended her life was the injury inflicted on her abdomen. She was only eight years old.

This is just one of hundreds of examples of child abuse that happen every year in America, and the suffering Rica endured began with corporal punishment in the form of being whipped with leather belts, but it continued to escalate until her punishments were so severe it literally ended her life. That is the ultimate conclusion to corporal punishment when it is left in the control of the parents to decide violence is the only way to teach their children. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes corporal punishment as a threat to the safety and bodily integrity of children across the world and it has been ratified by 195 countries making it the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world. There are two countries who have not ratified this treaty. They are Somalia and the United States of America.

This treaty has existed since 1989 and it is time for the United States to join ranks with the other 195 countries who believe the mistreatment of children must end. We, the people of the United States of America, are asking you to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child and bring us into agreement with the rest of the world that children deserve to be protected from violence in the streets, in their schools, and in their homes. As a nation that prides itself on the principles of freedom preserved in our Constitution, it is our duty to defend the rights of everyone in this country to bodily integrity, not just those above the age of 18.

- Rica Jae Rountree / via www.newschannel20.com