Posted on: Monday, January 18th, 2021
Child Sexual Abuse Prevention
Throughout the year, we encourage all individuals and organizations to play an active role in making our local communities a safer place for children and families. Together we can prevent child sexual abuse by ensuring that adults have the knowledge, skills and resources needed to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.
Statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that 1 in 6 boys and 1 in 4 girls in the United States are sexually abused before their 18th birthday, typically at the hand of someone they know and trust; and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that 1 in 5 children will be solicited sexually on the internet. Sadly, child abuse is happening, and it’s regardless of age, gender, race, religion or socio-economic class.
In support of April being Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Month, our Y’s 14 childcare centers will be participating in Norfolk Advocates for Children’s “Rocking for Kids” event. NAC is putting together a rock garden in Foxboro, for their Garden of Hope, a spot to help brighten the lives of children who have been the victims of sexual abuse. For their garden, NAC is providing rock kits for participants to pick up which contain paint, paintbrushes, and rocks to paint. By the end of April, we will provide NAC’s Garden of Hope with 353 painted rocks. If you would like to drop off a painted rock to add to our pile, please bring it in to one of our Member Service Desks, and we will include it with our rocks when we deliver to Norfolk Advocates for Children.
In April we shared educational resources on social media on what we can do every day to help prevent child sexual abuse. When adults know how abuse happens, see the warning signs, and respond quickly to prevent abuse, they foster a culture of child abuse prevention. Together we can stop it from happening. Please join us in sharing these messages on social media with network of family, friends and colleagues.
For more information about training opportunities for your organization, please email protectkids@hockymca.org.
Our next Five Days of Action Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Initiative will take place June 7-11, 2021. We look forward to doing even more to help stop this crisis.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?:
Pledge to protect children every single day, one day at a time.
Know the facts. See the warning signs. Respond quickly to prevent child sexual abuse.
ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCES
it’s important to know how to recognize and respond if someone needs help or support. Below are a list of resources to help.
What can you do as an individual or as an organization to help protect children from sexual abuse? Watch our Know See Respond video to learn more.
Hockomock Area YMCA Child Protection Trifold
Step-Up & Speak Out: A Parent’s Guide to Selecting Youth Serving Organizations
Mandated Reporting: What You Need to Know
Local Resources
English version
Spanish version
Arabic version
Portuguese version
Vietnamese version
CHILD PROTECTION TRAININGS
Have your place of business implement child protection trainings and policies.
5% of a community trained in Child Protection to be aware and responsive is the tipping point to make a positive change*. (Statistic from Darkness to Light)
If you are a member of an organization or community group that would like to learn more about our comprehensive trainings on Child Abuse Prevention, please email us at protectkids@hockymca.org.
For more information or strategies for talking with kids, you can access Darkness to Light’s 30-minute “Talking with Children” Training at no charge by registering and using code Talk2020.
Take the free “Protecting Children During a Crisis” Training in English or Spanish. You will need to create a login/password first on the Darkness to Light website before accessing the video.
Take the Darkness to Light Online Training.
Thank you for reading and helping learn more to prevent abuse so that we can give children the childhood they deserve.
#BeCauseY
