About a dozen demonstrators gathered Sunday for a Save Our Children rally at Diamond Park in Butler to bring attention to child sex abuse and human trafficking.

Butler was part of a nationwide effort over the weekend to bring attention to child sexual abuse and human trafficking.

About a dozen demonstrators gathered Sunday for a “Save Our Children” rally at Diamond Park on South Main Street in front of the Butler County Courthouse.

Participants — adults and children — holding signs that read “Why isn't pedophilia a capital offense” and “Save don't sell us” among others were met with the sounds of honking horns and occasional waves from passing motorists.

“We are trying to open eyes and make people aware,” said Danielle Lindo of Hilliards, one of the organizers. “We want to make people awake to what is happening and to get the point across that pedophilia is not OK. It's not normal.”

It's a crime, she said, that happens every day.

“It's happening in your backyard,” said Cheianne Callen of Hilliards, a registered nurse and another organizer of the rally. “I can't let my kid do anything without having somebody there.”

She said the problem of child sex abuse and trafficking too often is downplayed in the media.

“People don't know how big the problem is,” Callen said. “We have to get rid of the mindset that it's not going to happen to you.”

One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before they turn 18 years old, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

Children are more vulnerable to trafficking than adults, the U.S. Department of Health reported. Between 244,00 to 325,000 young people in the country are considered “at-risk” of sexual exploitation.

An estimated 199,000 incidents of sexual exploitation of minors occur each year in the United States.

According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, of the nearly 26,300 runaways reported to the private, nonprofit organization in 2019, one in six were likely victims of child sex trafficking.

Child sex trafficking has also been reported in all 50 states, the center noted.

The increase in children using social media platforms has exacerbated the problem, Lindo said, making it easier for sexual predators and more difficult for parents.

“There are so many strangers (children) can come in contact with,” she said. “People can hack you, find your web ID, find your address.”

For Callen, the best thing that people can do to fight the problem is to educate themselves.

Similar rallies were held in cities and towns across the U.S. on Saturday and Sunday.