The Blue Ribbon campaign was created when grandmother Bonnie Finney of Norfolk, Virginia, tied a symbolic blue ribbon to the antenna of her van as a signal to her community of her personal commitment to involve everyone in the battle to stop child abuse. She says it made people stop and ask what the ribbon was all about.
The colour blue is also said to represent the bruises sustained by victims.
That movement spread globally and was last week commemorated in Portugal to raise awareness about child neglect and abuse.
In Faro over 850 primary school students and 60 adults marched throughout the city to mark the date before culminating in a huge human ribbon in the city’s riverside park.
Meanwhile in neighbouring Olhão around one thousand young children and teens from several schools also took part in the forming of a human ribbon, the largest one ever organised by the local Child and Youth Protection Committee.
In many countries as in Portugal, April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Backed by the Portuguese association for victim support APAV, a statement on their website explains: “Given that child protection is the responsibility of society as a whole, it is intended with this celebration to make the community aware of the importance of the prevention of abuse in childhood, by strengthening families towards positive parenting and even elementary community involvement.”