The Unthinkable
For most of us, the idea of the sexual abuse of a child is "unthinkable". Although it is very painful to hear that a child may have been abused in this way, it is almost impossible to know that reality unless we acknowledge its existence and work to understand as much as we can of the problem. The critical first step to understanding is to admit to ourselves that this kind of thing does occur, even to people in our own community, to people we know and love.
Child sexual abuse is hard to think about or talk about, and may even be difficult to read about for many of us. However, it must be discussed frankly in order to increase our understanding and to better protect our children as well as to help train those professionals seeking to help those impacted by its devastation. We must learn to talk about the problem because the silence that surrounds child sexual abuse is the offender s great friend and ally.
It is important to note that the definitions of child sexual abuse may vary from state to state. Also important to understand is that the vast majority of this abuse occurs within the context of ongoing relationships. It is certainly not rare in our society. Estimates range from fifty thousand to over a million instances per year in the United States alone. In any group of adults gathered together, 15 to 20 percent of the people present may have been sexually abused by an adult before they reached the age of eighteen. Look around the next time you are at a local event and think of what these statistics mean to our community. Parents of all children, whatever their ages, race, sex, religion, socioeconomic status or location, must take the threat of child sexual abuse seriously and educate themselves on warning signs and identification, intervention and prevention for the sake of all our children!
For more information on this subject, please contact Edmond Family Counseling at 341-3554 and ask to speak to one of our professional staff members.
