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.
A “bystander” is a person who witnesses a boundary violation or sees a situation in which a child is vulnerable. Active bystanding is key for preventing child sexual abuse. Intervening or taking preventative measures as a bystander can mean the difference between a child being sexually abused or being protected from abuse. We can be active, …
Darkness to Light partners with Monique Burr Foundation for Children to launch Prevent 360°, a comprehensive approach to prevent child abuse. Two of the nation’s leading advocates for the prevention of child abuse and bullying announced a partnership today called Prevent 360°. Protecting children from sexual abuse and other types of victimization requires a 360° …
In the 1980s, the American Medical Association distributed a widely viewed public safety announcement encouraging parents to teach their children about “Stranger Danger.” In the 30-second clip, a man drives up to a young girl on her way to school. He begins a conversation with her and she responds, because her parents have “taught [their] …
