A photo floating around social media for over 3 years shows a girl with a black eye and small cuts on her face in an anti-child abuse post. Readers are asked to share it to raise awareness.
The photo does not depict a victim of child abuse.
The girl was actually injured by a classmate at school. Let’s take a look at the caption which has often circulated with this photo since 2012. The caption reads:
I’M NOT ASKING YOU TO LIKE , I’M JUST ASKING TO RE SHARE THIS IF YOU ARE AGAINST CHILD ABUSE . this is just unacceptable! >:/
The girl in the photo was featured in a December 2011 article about three-year old Katie Ann Guttridge who was attacked by a two-year old classmate nicknamed “Chucky.” Thus, this is not a photo of a child who was abused by an adult, which is the implication of the popular Facebook caption, but a girl who was injured by another child at school.
While fighting child abuse is a great cause, the photo used to promote the cause has nothing to do with child abuse. The article linked above makes it clear that this girl’s parents were her biggest advocates throughout the incident which led to her injury. Passing this photo around and slapping a “child abuse” label on it is an insult to the child and her family.
Bottom Line
The girl in the photo was not a victim of child abuse, but was injured by a classmate at school. The incident happened back in 2011 and the photo above has been circulating ever since.
Updated May 14, 2015
Originally published March 2012
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