Protecting Your Children from Sexual Abuse

One of the most important responsibility you have as a parent is to keep your children safe including being safe from sexual abuse. Unfortunately too many children experience being sexually abused, most often by someone they know and trust.

Sunday April 14, 2013 marks the first annual The Innocence Revolution - A Global Day to End Child Sexual Abuse. Their mission is to "is to unite and mobilize societies worldwide to end child sexual abuse".

In order to protect your children, it's helpful to know who are the most likely perpetrators. Men and teen boys are the perpetrators in 94% of the cases against girls and 86% of the cases against boys. They also report these statistics:

• An estimated 60% of perpetrators of sexual abuse are known to the child but are not family members, e.g., family friends, babysitters, childcare providers, neighbors.
• About 30% of perpetrators are family members, e.g., fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins.
• Just 10% of perpetrators are strangers to the child.

How can you help protect your children from sexual abuse?  This one page summarizes 10 steps you can take to help protect your children from sexual abuse.