What began as organized protests
in England in the 1970s, to raise awareness for sexual violence against women,
has developed into a global initiative to raise awareness about the rape,
sexual harassment, incest, molestation, and sex trafficking of both genders.
Through tireless efforts from the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault
(NCASA), in 2001, April was designated as Sexual Assault Awareness Month
(SAAM).
With a theme of “Talk Early, TalkOften,” the 2013 SAAM campaign focuses on healthy sexuality and its connection
to child sexual abuse prevention. Talking with our children about sex isn’t a
comfortable subject for some parents, but avoiding an uncomfortable
conversation is not giving your child your best. The SAAM campaign encourages
parents to start talking with their children to prevent child sexual abuse and
offers a plethora of tools to engage in age appropriate talks with children.
Materials are available in both English and En Espanol.
Guess what? Child sexual abuse is
not gender specific. According to the study, “Prevalence and Psychological
Sequence of Self-Reported Childhood Physical and Sexual Abuse in General
Population,” Briere, one in seven boys will be sexually abused at some point in
their childhood. In the report, as with many others, it is acknowledged that
the statistic is actually higher due to the fact that often the crime of child
sex abuse is not reported.
While we as adults can choose to
become polarized in the fear of discomfort, imagine how a child must feel. How
often have you heard a friend say that they wish that they’d been able to talk
to their mom or dad about sex? Unfortunately, this writer hears it too often.
The ability, the comfort that our children have to speak with us about sex, is
our responsibility. So take some time, check out the SAAM website and talk to your kids.
Follow @ypmazzy
No comments:
Post a Comment