Child Abuse In The 1800s

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Children have been victims of abuse since the early centuries. Thousands of years ago, children were thought of as their father’s property. It was not long ago that children were unprotected by the law. Animals even had rights before children did. The first reported case of child abuse happened in New York, in 1874 to a young Mary Ellen Wilson. A neighbor of Mary was suspicious of child abuse and contacted a missionary worker, Etta Walker, to investigate the abuse. Etta gained access into the family’s home and saw psychical evidence of abuse to Mary. Since people were not allowed to interfere with an individual’s family matter, Etta had to research where she could file a report. Eventually, she turned to the American Society for Prevention