The Legacy of Child Sexual Abuse
In the last few weeks the nation has been rocked by the Amish school massacre, the Bailey, Colorado school murder/sexual assaults, and the Representative Mark Foley scandal.
It now appears that each of these horrifying incidents could be rooted in past child sexual abuse. Charles Carl Roberts, the man who killed five young girls and wounded five more in an Amish school on October 2, reportedly had plans to sexually assault the girls. He brought items with him that could be used in a sexual assault, and he told his wife that he had molested two young relatives twenty years ago, and had dreams of molesting and killing young girls. Duane Morrison, who sexually assaulted six high school girls and murdered one before killing himself on September 27 in Bailey, CO, alluded to being sexually abused himself in a letter mailed just before the incident. Congressman Mark Foley, who resigned from the House on October 2 because of allegations of sexually obscene e-mails to underage House pages, has now claimed he was sexually abused as a young teen by a clergy member.
Many are baffled by the motivation for these awful events, but it is really no mystery. Individuals who are sexually abused as children are at far greater risk than their peers for a whole host of psychological, sexual and emotional problems. Common consequences of child sexual abuse include drug and alcohol abuse, promiscuity, a range of sexual problems, depression and suicide. These problems can follow the victim for his or her entire life. Research also shows that there is a strong correlation between being sexually abused as a child and becoming an abuser of children as an adult.
Further, child sexual abuse is not a rare occurrence. One in four girls and one in six boys experience some kind of sexual abuse before their eighteenth birthday. Though not every case is traumatic, there are millions of individuals who suffer the legacy of abuse every day of their lives. Only a tiny percentage of these go on to commit criminal or violent acts, but given the magnitude of the problem, it is certain that child sexual abuse is at the root of many of society’s problems.
It is easy to get caught up in the "drama and trauma" of tragic events. It is time that we, as a society, react to crimes like these with prevention and resolution, rather than hysteria. If we are really serious about protecting children, we need to address the root of the problem. We need to break the cycle of child sexual abuse by preventing it from happening in the first place!
All adults, especially those responsible for the safety of children, should learn steps they can take to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse. Schools and youth-serving organizations should mandate this kind of training for staff. There is an excellent child sexual abuse prevention program available. This highly-acclaimed program, named Stewards of Children, was developed by Darkness to Light, a national non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the incidence of child sexual abuse. The innovative and easy-to-use 2.5 hour training is available online at www.darkness2light.org. The training is also available in an instructor-led version offered in most areas of the country.
To rid ourselves of the epidemic of child sexual we don’t have to spend billions in laboratories to find a cure. The cure is here. The cure is awareness and common-sense proactive prevention steps that every adult can take. Every concerned adult can learn how to better protect children. Tragedies such as these are preventable, but only if communities will actively embrace the reality of sexual abuse and pursue prevention training.
Take action on behalf of the children in your life and in our society. They only get one childhood: help them protect it.
Submitted by:
Anne Lee, President & CEO of Darkness to Light
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