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.
Giving Unconditional Love to a Child who has Been Abused The number of children in foster care has increased for the fourth year in a row, with a report by the Administration for Children and Families showing that around 437,5000 children were in foster care by the end of the 2016 fiscal year. If you are a …
Darkness to Light announces more than 1.7 million adults trained to prevent child sexual abuse. Darkness to Light has announced that the organization has trained more than 1.7 million adults to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse in partnership with thousands of volunteers worldwide. The trainings used to reach this milestone consist …
When looking at human trafficking cases, law enforcement, judges, and the judicial branch must have a trauma-informed methodology. This is part two of our blog series on understanding human trafficking. If you missed part one, read it here. For some expert advice on how law enforcement investigates trafficking and the importance of trauma-informed education catered …
