Brief summary of presentation of information made

The meeting starts with some (USA) statistics.

• A total of 93% of sexually abused children knows the perpetrator, (mostly he) is a friend or a relative.
• Only 5 out of 1000 perpetrators end up in jail.

This comparison makes clear how important it is to speak up for the voiceless.

A short animation film shows the consequences of child sexual abuse: it makes it difficult for kids to trust anyone.

Perpetrators are mostly men, but can also be another child, sibling or step-parent. Tactics used are: secrets, saying that it’s a game, paying attention to a child in a special way (more attention to one child, comparing to others / love).

We learned how to prevent Child Sexual Assault. Most important is to know that if it should happen, only the perpetrator is to blame. Prevention can be done by becoming more involved in your child’s life, ask open-ended questions, getting to know people in a child’s life, talking about (social) media and what happens online, know the warning signs, TALK AND LISTEN, make sure that your child knows it can talk about anything with you, TEACH about boundaries and private parts (teach children the anatomic names for their private parts), give them undivided attention and a chance to raise new topics.

Warning signs can be divided into physical and behavioural signs. Physical mostly pain/burns/swelling in genital areas, behavioural like excessive showering, results at school, nightmares, bedwetting, older siblings who experienced CSA can become overprotective for their younger siblings, developing phobias, shrinking when physical contact (mostly with perpetrator), excessive sexual knowledge.

Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE): tests can be done online. This is about building strong brains through positive experiences. The higher the ACE score is, the higher a persons’ risk for later health problems. Tests can be done online.

What was of particular significance to share with The Salvation Army globally?

Prevention: The Salvation Army has the opportunity to raise awareness on the subject by talking about sexuality and boundaries – in an age as young as possible – which can prevent later problems. The Salvation Army can integrate and prioritise this subject in our children’s and youth ministries, and in contacts with parents and children.

• How do we (globally) raise more awareness on this subject?
• Having open conversations about sexuality, doing everything we can to prevent CSA, would also be helpful in preventing human trafficking.

Pastoral care: In Salvation Army ministries we often come into contact with vulnerable people who have experienced (child) sexual abuse in their life. Need to think about

• What is (healthy) sexuality?
• How do we talk about it in pastoral care?
• How do we help people in their healing process

Web links for more information

Voicing CSA (Child Sexual Abuse) Animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t4VuTDpco0

ACE’s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtXd19s9i8k

Not Our Kids: Child Sexual Abuse prevention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-FRmFBsJxQ

Book: Share some Secrets, book for children about secrets they should or shouldn’t keep: https://www.christinagabbitas.com/share-some-secrets/

Research article on Child Abuse & Neglect: https://www.nationalcac.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Language-competence-in-forensic-interviews-for-suspected-child-sexual-abuse.pdf

Tags: SDG16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, SDG3: Good Health and Well-Being