Melissa Currie, M.D., will be among the speakers who “Rally to End Child Abuse,” beginning at 11 a.m., Wednesday, March 30, at the Big Four Bridge Lawn on River Road.

Sponsored by the Family & Children’s Place, Kosair Charities’ Face It® Movement, and other Metro Louisville children’s organizations, the Rally to End Child Abuse kicks off Child Abuse Prevention Month in April.

Currie will join a slate of speakers including Gov. and First Lady Matt and Glenna Bevin, Family & Children’s Place President and CEO Pam Darnall, Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Steve Conrad, Kosair Charities Board Chair Jerry Ward and Kentucky Youth Advocates Executive Director Terry Brooks.

Currie is medical director and chief of the Kosair Charities Division of Pediatric Forensic Medicine and program director of the Child Abuse Pediatrics Fellowship in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Louisville. The division provides a standardized approach to the assessment of child abuse and neglect issues, providing medical expertise on the diagnosis, documentation and follow-up of suspected cases of child physical abuse and neglect. The first board certified child-abuse pediatrician in Kentucky, Currie practices with University of Louisville Physicians.

The pediatric forensic medicine team serves as liaison between the hospital team and community partners such as law enforcement, Child Protective Services and the Department of Justice. The UofL Department of Pediatrics serves with Kosair Children's Hospital as the only statewide medical referral resource for child maltreatment assessments.

The “Rally to End Child Abuse” highlights progress being made in stopping and preventing abuse and healing child survivors and families. According to 2014 data, nearly 23,000 children suffered physical or sexual abuse or neglect in Kentucky. In Jefferson County, that number totaled more than 3,016 children. Abuse creates a lifelong impact in emotional and physical health, in relationships and in every facet of a child’s life through adulthood.

For more information, visit faceitabuse.org.