3 Ways To Empower Your Child To Speak Up Against S3xual Abuse

The world is no more a safe place for anyone even for our little children and the proof is the horrific incidences of child s3xual abuse we read about and see almost every day. The predators don’t spare girls and even boys as young as 2 months, we heard of so many s3xual abuse on children even in the school premises and their homes that they are meant to be safe.

“The abuse just doesn’t stop there, these predators also play with a child’s psyche, they traumatise and scare them so much that a child puts up with the torture and refrains from speaking about it even to the parents; this is where every parent need to up their antenna and make their kids confident beings who can speak for themselves and seek help from the right people as soon as they smell danger”.

A s3xuality educator, was asked how to help our kids stay safe and look for help and below are few tips she offered:

Act before it is too late: “While it sounds like a cliché, remember, the best way to help your child speak up about abuse is by keeping the parent-child communication open, being attacked or assaulted by someone they trust is so traumatic that they fail to dig up the courage to speak up about it and if the child is living in an environment of tension at home, this makes things worse so, try to bridge the gap between you and your child and create a safe environment where he/she can come back and confide in you, even if the abuser has threatened to harm the family your child’s words and actions should be taken seriously”.

Improve their vocabulary to address s3xual abuse: “We have been stressing the importance of teaching your child (as early as two years) names of all the body parts including the genitals for a reason, most of the time kids who are abused don’t know what to say to parents or how to address the problem even though they might say it is hurting, it is paining, but not know how to describe it so if your child knows what a vag!na, anus or a p3nis is they might be able to say that it is hurting vag!na, anus and that will be like a red flag for you which will help you to question him/her further and get to the crux of the matter”.

Be an active parent: “Attend all the PTA meetings and try to make a connection with the teachers, just making sure that you are there for your kid does a lot to ensure that anyone would think twice before harming your child; it was also pointed  out that abusers don’t want to get caught and so they choose their victims carefully and they either pick up kids who are naive and sublime or the ones who are loud and clear but are never believed which is why if you are there with your child for meetings, gatherings and annual functions, cheering and patting them for their achievements and failure, alike, this gives an indication to the abuser that your child has a support system in place and he might not want to pick your child as his next prey”.

Teach them to seek help: “It is quite possible that when a child is s3xually abused even if she wants to talk to someone, she might not know whom to confide, so teach your children how to be able to confide in you as their parent and be free to tell you anything no matter how little it may seem”.

Talk to the school about their safety policies: “As parents it is your right to ask the school about the policies they have for abuse, both physical and verbal, just because it is not mandatory, they can’t ignore the need for it and this will compel schools to have a policy in place, just like how corporate companies have s3xual harassment policy”.

“We all wholeheartedly want this kind of abuse to stop but till then we can take these little steps to ensure that we empower our kids and help them to stay safe”.

Source: Greennews