Skirt! Alert
*
An estimated 10,000 children were abused in Charleston last
year.
* Less than one in ten children who are abused will ever
tell.
* One in four girls will be sexually abused before her
eighteenth birthday.
* One in six boys will be sexually abused before his
eighteenth birthday.
* As a nation, we spend more money boarding our dogs than we
do sheltering our abused children.
* Over 50% of all teen pregnancies are a result of adult men
having sex with young girls.
These are some of the shocking statistics that motivated a
small group of Charlestonians to take action and develop a
primary prevention program for child sexual abuse called
From Darkness to Light (D2L). You might have seen their
national award-winning television public service
announcements, heard their spots on radio, seen the
billboards or read of their program recently in print.
D2L began five years ago when founder Cindy Tew made a
donation to the Center for Women to create a public forum
for adult survivors of child sexual abuse. The Center for
Women then partnered with Lowcountry Children’s Center and
People Against Rape. to present a successful annual
conference which has occurred for the past four years. But
just one year ago, D2L took a decidedly different turn.
There are two primary components that separate From Darkness
to Light from the vast majority of other prevention
programs:
1. Adults are responsible for the safety of children,
therefore all of D2L media and programs are targeted to
adults. Most prevention programs encourage us to teach our
children what is appropriate and inappropriate, teach our
children to tell if something “bad” happens and teach
our children to say NO! “Adults are responsible for the
abuse and adults must take the responsibility to keep
children safe.” says Executive Director Anne Lee. “While
we believe that children should be empowered to own their
bodies and know that if something bad happens it is not
their guilt and shame, the community of adults must be
mandated to keep children safe.”
2. From Darkness to Light acts as a flashlight on the issue
of abuse and on all the great resources our community has to
deal with the issue of child abuse. D2L is does not to
duplicate or replicate any services offered by other
organizations. “We’re here to highlight the work of
other organizations that provide services to children and
families.” underscores John G. Davis, chairman of the D2L
board of directors. D2L also has partnered with Hotline for
crisis and information calls that are generated by their
media campaign. Anne Lee commented, “Many people have
said, ‘ I didn’t realize those were local PSAs. I
thought D2L was a national program.’ It is, I say, we’re
just starting in Charleston.” D2L already has many
communities who want the program, and it is anticipated that
in the next eighteen months it will be exported to at least
three other locales. For more information on From Darkness
to Light, visit www.darkness2light.org or call 747-3007.
(Crisis calls: toll-free 1-866-367-5444)
April is National Prevent Child Abuse Month.
The national symbol is the blue ribbon. Wear one proudly.
Say to our community you care about the safety of all of our
children. Get involved. Know who your child spends time
with. Ask questions. Volunteer. Give generously. If you
would like to obtain blue ribbons, call 723-3600. |
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