Something Iāve seen people trying to draw more attention to that I think is important is the importance of sex ed.
A lot of people are really big on talking about how child abuse is wrong and to be careful of strangers but the fact is a child is most likely to be abused by a someone they know. Like a parent even.
If a parent is doing the abusing, itās unlikely a child will learn otherwise. And having things like sex ed in schools can be really helpful in teaching children about stuff like this. A lot of people say this should be up to the parent to teach, but parents donāt always do that.
I never had sex ed. I learned about sex from another student when I was around 13. My parents never gave me āthe talkā. They werenāt my abuser, but I still never got the talk or told that even if itās someone you know, itās still not okay.
Iām not saying knowing would have saved me, but I didnāt even have a chance. All I learned about sex at a young age came from the man abusing me.
Add on to say - I also think it is really important that we teach children the proper anatomy terms and donāt try and make them more āinnocentā with other names. Because it can be really important for a child being able to communicate something is happening to them.
On this topic, if you're an adult wondering what you can do, there's a free online course called Prevent It! that was developed in Canada in conjunction with researchers at the University of Alberta. It aims to educate and empower adults to take action and help prevent and respond to child sexual abuse.
You can find out more and sign up here:
Prevent It! educates adults on how to help prevent and respond to child sexual abuse. Sign up now.
(As a note, I'm unaffiliated with Little Warriors and the Prevent It! program other than trying to help raise money for their cause a couple of times a year. I'm sharing this information because I want more people to know about it, not because I get anything out of it.)
I have never heard of this, but Iām going to check it out and thought Iād share to give it some more visibility.
