Taking Action to Combat Child Sexual Abuse
Continuing my insights from the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse webinar, this part 2 of two parts, focuses on the actionable steps outlined by Professor Andrea de Silva, Janise Mitchell, and Cathy Kezelman to address the issues raised by the National Child Sexual Abuse Attitudes Study.
Mobilising the Community
Professor de Silva stressed the importance of using the robust data from the study to propel actionable change. To effectively address child sexual abuse, there needs to be a coordinated effort across various sectors of the community, including government, education, and social services.
Key Points:
- Data Collection: Data was collected from over 4,000 people nationally, providing a comprehensive view across all states and territories. This sample included various demographics, making the findings robust and representative.
- Cross-Sector Engagement: Tackling child sexual abuse requires collaboration across multiple sectors to develop and implement prevention and support programs.
Enhancing Public Discourse and Education
Janise Mitchell highlighted the necessity of maintaining public discourse on the issue of child sexual abuse. Society must become comfortable addressing this uncomfortable topic, ensuring that it remains a priority in public conversations.
Key Points:
- Sustained Awareness: Despite awareness, many community members (40%) still doubted child disclosures or found the topic too uncomfortable to address directly.
- Community Comfort: Building a community that can engage with the reality of child sexual abuse without turning away in discomfort is essential.
Targeting Misconceptions and Beliefs
To create a supportive environment for survivors, there must be a shift in societal attitudes. This includes changing language use and addressing harmful misconceptions about victims and perpetrators. Janise noted the need for a new approach to understanding grooming and perpetration, particularly in the modern context of online interactions.
Key Points:
- Shift in Language: Using accurate and unminimised language to describe child sexual abuse is crucial.
- Modern Grooming Tactics: Awareness campaigns need to educate the public about the sophisticated tactics perpetrators use, especially online. The study showed that participants were largely aware of the online risks but felt ill-prepared to protect their children adequately.
Supporting Survivors Holistically
Cathy Kezelman emphasised the importance of holistic support for survivors that acknowledges both the immediate and long-term impacts of abuse. This requires training for all individuals in a child’s support network to recognise signs of abuse and respond appropriately.
Key Points:
- Holistic Support: Support services must address the full spectrum of impacts of child sexual abuse, blending emotional, psychological, and practical support.
- Training and Education: Programs to train parents, educators, and other adults in recognising and responding to signs of abuse are essential. Only 35% of survey respondents felt confident in supporting a child disclosure adequately.
Moving Forward with Confidence
The study and the webinar provided a clear picture of where efforts need to be concentrated to prevent and address child sexual abuse. It was a call to action for all of the community to come together and act decisively to protect children and support survivors.
Leveraging this new data and committing to change creates a safer environment for all children and ensures survivors receive the compassionate support they need.
Sharing the link to the conversation here if you’d like to access it:
That is the end of my webinar takeaways for now.
For me, this is healthy inquiry. As a survivor advocate I see enormous benefit in staying up to date on what is being done and spoken about. This webinar’s conversation was rich with insights and it gave me the same feeling I had from reading what was being done about sibling sexual abuse across the world.
Do you find reading about what is being done by these organisations helps you feel validated or understood? Anything else? Please drop a comment below or use the contact form on the website.
Upcoming Blog Series
If you listened to the podcast episode shared in last week’s blog, you’ll have heard me talk about the survivors as heroes; and family and societal ignorance and silence being the villain. I’m going to turn my writing to that for the remaining weeks of July.
New Look
The blog will appear in your inbox in a new format starting in August. I have more to share about my path forward. Also, I’ll share how my vision to support survivors, allies, families, advocates, and educators will continue to be delivered throughout 2024.
I thank you for being here with me. Seeing that you have, is there anything you’d like me to dig deeper into from what you read in Resolve, or any other area related to sibling sexual abuse, message me as above.
Stay tuned!
Alice
