April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
The topic of child abuse, particularly child sexual abuse, is a subject that is near and dear to mine and Kyle’s hearts. As a graduate student in counseling, Kyle interned at Bright Tomorrows Child Advocacy Center. I was also blessed with the opportunity to work in the office of Bright Tomorrows for a few months, and it’s an opportunity I’m so glad I had.
Child advocacy centers provide a child-friendly, safe and neutral location in which law enforcement and Child Protective Services investigators may conduct and observe forensic interviews with children who are alleged victims of crimes, and where the child and their family can receive support, crisis intervention and referrals for mental health and medical treatment. At Bright Tomorrows, for example, they have on staff trained forensic interviewers, who interview children in interview rooms set up with digital recording equipment. They also have other counselors trained in TF-CBT (trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy) that meet with the children and their families to facilitate the healing process. Bright Tomorrows works closely with law enforcement and the prosecutors office in our area. Their staff is all fabulous and they are united in helping these sweet children and their families heal. I urge you to watch this short video that shows the bravery of these children, and that will also give you more insight into what a child advocacy center is and does.
In 2015, approximately 250 children were interviewed at Bright Tomorrows, which currently serves the southeastern portion of Idaho. Two hundred and fifty. And did you know that only 1 in 10 children report their abuse? That means that in this small portion of Idaho alone, around 2500 children were sexually abused in 2015. And that does not sit right with me at all.
Some other statistics on child sexual abuse are as follows:
- 1 in 10 children will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday.
- 90% of children abused know their perpetrator
- 20% of abused children are abused before the age of 8
- 30% of children are abused by a family member with that number rising to 50% of children under the age of 6
- 60% of children are abused by someone the family trusts
But how can we stop it? What can we do?
We need to learn the facts, and we need talk to our children. We need to have open dialogues with our children about body parts, body safety, boundaries, etc. from the time they are young. We need to use correct anatomical terms. We need to explain why we don’t keep secrets. We need to give them the tools they need. (Kyle and I recommend this book for young children.)
Darkness To Light has 5 steps laid out for us, which you can find here. D2L also has a fantastic child abuse prevention training entitled Stewards of Children, which I highly recommend to any adult. Kyle is a trained facilitator, as they offer this class at Bright Tomorrows, and I have taken it and can attest to it’s wonderfulness. One reason it’s so fantastic, is that it doesn’t go over just how we minimize opportunity, but it gives you tools on how to talk to you child if you suspect abuse. One specific part of this training that has always stuck with me is when an adult male, who had been abused when he was a child, mentions that his parents asked him about the night the abuse happened, but he didn’t tell them because they didn’t ask him the right question. We need to learn the right questions! We need to get other adults informed, we need to all be working together to stop child sexual abuse.
I urge you to get involved in your community. You can make a difference.
On May 5, you can donate to the Idaho Network of Children’s Advocacy Centers via Idaho Gives — I’ll be sure to post about this again, then. You can find a CAC near you here.
*Statistics taken from Darkness To Light and Bright Tomorrows.
