Our evidence-informed training influences community behavior change. Once certified in Stewards of Children®, adults will take action to protect the children in their lives. Your financial gift is an investment in prevention.
The facts about child sexual abuse can be staggering, but learning them can help us better understand how to protect children.
For instance, we know that over 90% of sexually abused children are abused by someone known by the child or family. This means that “stranger danger” isn’t the biggest risk to children. People they know are.
One-one-one time with trusted adults is healthy and valuable for a child. Ensuring that those opportunities are safe is important as well.
If you eliminate or reduce opportunities for children to be in isolated, one-on-one situations with adults or other youth, you dramatically reduce the risk for abuse.
Children often keep abuse a secret, but barriers can be broken down by talking openly about topics like body safety, sex, and boundaries. One of the best defenses against child sexual abuse is our relationship with children and open, age-appropriate conversations.
Don’t expect obvious signs when a child is being sexually abused. Signs are often there, but you have to know what to look for. Emotional or behavioral signals are more common, and may range from “too perfect” behavior to anger and rebellion.
Disclosure, discovery, and suspicions of sexual abuse provide opportunities to intervene on behalf of a child. Be prepared to react responsibly.
We know that when adults are trained, they take the steps to protect children from sexual abuse.
During our award-winning Stewards of Children® prevention training, you’ll meet survivors who lived through child sexual abuse, experienced its immediate and long-term effects, and ultimately were able to find healing. You’ll meet experts who work with children and families and confront abuse on a daily basis. Lastly, you’ll find concrete steps that you can take to protect the children in your life.
Educating both adults and children is important to preventing child abuse. At Darkness to Light, we focus on the prevention of child sexual abuse by educating adults. We believe it’s an adult’s responsibility to protect children, but we know educating both adults and children is vital to prevention. Empowering children to tell a trusted adult …
With help and support we can move forward in resilience. In the past two blog posts, we’ve discussed childhood trauma, what it is, and its impact on children and adults. Thankfully, trauma doesn’t have to be the end. We know if individuals get help and have a support system, they can heal. They are resilient. …
We know that childhood trauma can and does create lifelong health consequences. In our last post, we discussed what adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are and the importance of educating ourselves on this important topic. Now we look at the lasting consequences of ACEs as one of the root causes of prevalent lifelong health issues. The …
