Noteworthy
A Day with Dr. Eliana Gil and Three Little Heroes.
Eliana Gil, Kathy Baxter, Molly Arnott,
Renee Zimmerman, Molly Jardiniano and Patty Shimek
On Friday, March 2, 2012, at the new home of Futures without Violence in the Presidio of San Francisco, Dr. Eliana Gil lectured on current challenges and directions in providing helpful intervention to sexually abused children and their families. Dr. Gil's lecture was followed by a lively dialogue with the audience.
Three new characters for the training materials of the San Francisco Child Abuse Council's Child Safety Awareness workshops were also introduced. The new materials are sponsored by Partners in Prevention with the hope that the great work of Program Director, Molly Jardiniano and her staff will benefit from the empowering little super heroes. The CSA program educates thousands of San Francisco school children each year through an age-appropriate and culturally diverse curriculum. For more on the new training materials, please see here.
Letter - November, 2011
“The news out of Penn State these last two weeks has affected everyone. For us, working to prevent and treat child abuse it raises a different set of questions: How do we protect children? How do we prevent child abuse? What should we do if we suspect or see child abuse? What should we do if it happens in our family or within our circle of friends?
We protect children and prevent child sexual abuse by preparing them. It is essential that children know that they have control over their own bodies and that no one has the right to violate them. Most important is that we not give children the message that it is their responsibility not to get abused! That is an adult responsibility. The child's responsibility is to know what to do if it happens. And what they need to know is who to go to. It is our job as adults to make child sexual abuse unacceptable in our communities and make sure that any child so affected knows who to go to for help, and that help is available.
There has been a lot in the press about ‘Mandated Reporters.’ According to the law there are certain categories of professionals who are required, by law, to report suspected child abuse when acting in their official capacity. But maybe what we need to talk about are ‘Moral Reporters;’ those who are not mandated by law but morally required by living in society. Certainly that higher order should apply to anyone we allow our children to trust, for example, coaches. But it should also apply to all of us. Child abuse, especially child sexual abuse, happens out of sight. If we suspect that it is occurring we have a moral obligation to bring it into view, certainly in a manner that protects the child, but into the view of the proper authorities, be that the local child welfare organization or the police.
And if it should happen? Research is clear that children who have been sexually abused fare best in later life if they are believed when it is found out. The most important response that a parent can make to a sexually abused child is to believe them. Get help as soon as you can. Sort out the details later. But immediately convey to your child that you believe them, that you love them, and that no matter what has happened to them they are deeply, deeply precious to you.
In the United States in 2005 the American Humane Association tallied almost 84,000 cases of child sexual abuse. The National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse reports that 27% of all women and 16% of all men are sexually abused as children. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network cites 1 in 4 girls, and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused by the time they are 18. These are horrifying statistics. Penn State was not an isolated incident. Child sexual abuse goes way beyond a single sport or team, a university, one state or one country.”
Excerpt of Letter from Dr. Kathryn Conroy, Executive Director and CEO of Hedge Funds Care, Preventing and Treating Child Abuse.
On November 22nd Hedge Funds Care, Preventing and Treating Child Abuse, hosted a webinar entitled "It's All About the Child". The webinar shared with participants information about the prevalence of child sexual abuse, the risk indicators that everyone should be aware of, and probably most important, how parents and other responsible adults can protect children. The webinar was led by John Budzyna, President of Hedge Funds Care with participants Sherry Perlstein, Executive Director of the Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut and Dr. Kathryn Conroy, Executive Director and CEO of Hedge Funds Care.
To listen to the webinar in its entirety, please click here.
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