Boys and girls are silently bearing the burden of child sexual abuse alone because only 10 percent of children report the abuse to a trusted adult, said Sharon De Boer, executive director of the Cannon County Child Advocacy Center. Experts estimate that one in 10 children will be sexually abused by their 18th birthday. Ninety percent of child sexual abuse victims never report the abuse.
“This means in school classrooms, daycares, churches, Sunday schools, sports teams, choirs, marching bands, cheerleading squads, dance teams, and homes—everywhere you see children in our community, there are boys and girls who are silently bearing the burden of child sexual abuse alone,” said De Boer.
Child abuse statistics show adults do not adequately protect children from child sexual abuse. There are lots of reasons why, but the main reason is that they do not know how. Parents and grandparents are unaware of the steps they can take to protect their children and grandchildren from child sexual abuse. They do not know how to recognize the signs of child sexual abuse and they do not know what to do if their child tells them it is happening.
“As professionals in the field of child abuse, we have taught children to protect themselves from child sexual abuse,” De Boer said. “That is important for them to learn, but it is no substitute for adult responsibility. The reality is that teaching children to protect themselves has not worked.”
To change this culture, the Child Advocacy Center trained professionals from the community to be Darkness to Light facilitators beginning last summer. “Darkness to Light” is a new nationwide initiative designed to teach adults how to protect children by teaching them the 7 Steps to Protecting Children from Sexual Abuse. The Child Advocacy Center has 19 certified Darkness to Light trainers available to conduct trainings in Cannon County.
“A child’s safety is an adult’s responsibility,” De Boer said. “We make our children wear seat belts. We ask our teenagers where they are going and who they will be with—all to keep our children safe. Protecting children from child sexual abuse is also an adult responsibility.”
The Child Advocacy Center has trained 24 individuals from the following Cannon County organizations how to protect children from child sexual abuse and what to do if a child reports abuse to them: Woodbury Police Department, Cannon County Child Protective Investigative Team, and Cannon County REACH.
You can support the Darkness to Light Project by bringing the training to your church, business, school, PTO, or civic group, and by learning everything you can do to prevent your own children and grandchildren from being sexually abused.
For more information, please contact Ryan Wallace or Amanda Pruitt at the Cannon County Child Advocacy Center at (616) 563-9915.
