:: Saint John Bosco Catholic School

The "Protecting God’s Children" program provides an opportunity for all adults in a community to participate in a comprehensive sexual abuse awareness session—a commitment of approximately 3 hours. In that amount of time, an adult can learn about the types of harm associated with sexual abuse, can learn how to recognize the characteristics of a possible abuser, can become familiar with the warning signs of abuse, and can learn the proper way to report suspicious behavior. Three hours spent participating in an awareness session is a small time commitment for any adult—especially when the result is a lifetime of empowerment to help protect children.

ALL ADULTS WHO HAVE ANY CONTACT WITH OUR CHILDREN (CATECHISTS, CYO, TEACHERS, AIDES, VOLUNTEERS, ETC...) MUST PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROGRAM.

St. John Bosco periodically provides sessions in English and in Spanish for our parishioners. Look for more information in the parish bulletin.

(To register at a location other than St. John Bosco please go to www.virtus.org )

A Real-World Perspective on Some Myths and Facts About Child Sexual Abuse
Sharon Womack Doty, J.D., M.H.R. Consultant to the VIRTUS Programs

One of the goals of the Protecting God’s Children® program is to dispel any preconceived notions that adults have about who commits child sexual abuse and how it happens. The media attention to this problem, and our own very human need to find something to blame for this crime, often results in the formation of preconceived notions or beliefs about child sexual abuse that have no basis in fact. And these issues often distract our attention away from the areas where we can, indeed, make a difference.

Dispelling these myths is one way to refocus our attention on the real problem—the grooming process and the behavioral warning signs of people who are a potential risk of harm to children. However, it is sometimes difficult for adults to let go of these false beliefs, or myths.

In a recent study funded by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), Dr. Charol Shakeshaft examined the issue of educator sexual abuse.[i] That research shed some additional light on the issue of myths, unfounded beliefs, and preconceived notions about child sexual abuse. In today’s training bulletin, we will review some of the myths that are challenged by the Protecting God’s Children program, and we will share what was learned about these issues in the Shakeshaft (DOE) study.
There are four specific myths that are challenged in the Protecting God’s Children program. The DOE study results are included along with the Protecting God’s Children response to each myth.

Myth: Strangers are responsible for most child sexual abuse.

Protecting God’s Children position: Most sex abusers are people who are known and trusted by both the children and their parents.

DOE Study: “Sexual abuse of students occurs within the context of the schools, where students are taught to trust teachers. Schools are also a place where teachers are more often believed than are students and in which there is a power and status differential that privileges teachers and other educators (Shakeshaft and Cohen, 1994).”
“In elementary schools, the abuser is often one of the people that students most like and that parents most trust. …It is common to find that educators who have been sexually abusing children are also the same educators who display on their walls a community ‘Excellence in Teaching’ award or a ‘Teacher of the Year’ certificate. This popularity confounds district officials and community members and prompts them to ignore allegations on the belief that ‘outstanding teachers’ cannot be abusers.”

Myth: Children lie about sexual abuse.

Protecting God’s Children position: Most children are not lying when they say that they were abused. Less than 5 percent of all allegations are intentionally false. It is more likely that children will refuse to tell about abuse than to lie about abuse.

DOE Study: “Several studies estimate that only about 6 percent of all children report sexual abuse by an adult to someone who can do something about it. The other 94 percent do not tell anyone or talk only to a friend. (And they swear their friend to secrecy) (Finkelhor, Hotaling and Kerti Yllo, 1988)”
“There are no systematic studies of false accusations of educators, but studies of child sexual abuse in general indicate that false allegations are not common. In a 1991 review of false or mistaken accusations of sexual abuse, Yates concludes that the majority of false accusations occur in custody cases and that in other circumstances, the incidence of false accusations appears rare.”

Unfounded belief: Child sexual abuse rarely happens.

Protecting God’s Children position: In surveys of adults, one out of five women and one out of 10 men reported that they were sexually molested before they were 18 years old. This means that an estimated 40 million adult survivors of child sexual abuse are living in the United States today.

DOE Study: An estimated 9.6 percent of all school children will be molested by an educator or an employee of a school between kindergarten and 12th grade.
Between 13 and 34 percent of all females will be victims of sexual assault before the age of 18 and 7 to 16 percent of all males will also be victimized before they are 18.

Unfounded belief: Only low income, minority, or low socio-economic level children are at risk for sexual abuse.

Protecting God’s Children position: All children are at risk of sexual abuse and sexual abusers come from all races, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds. Some socially deprived or isolated children are at an elevated risk that make them more vulnerable to specific grooming techniques.

DOE Study: Fifty-two percent of the children victimized by educators were Caucasian. However, among those who are overrepresented as targets of educator sexual misconduct in relation to their proportion of the population are females of color. “Students of color account for 44 percent of the targets of 33.2 percent of the sample.”
“Whether premeditated or opportunistic, selection is influenced by the compliance of the student and the likelihood of secrecy. Because most educator abusers seek to conceal their sexual contact with students, offenders often target students that they can control.”

Unfounded belief: For the most part, only men abuse children.

Protecting God’s Children position: Estimates are that approximately 60 percent of abusers are men, 15 to 20 percent are women, and 20 to 40 percent are men and women acting together. So, while men are indeed the majority of sexual abusers, it is dangerous to underestimate the risk that female sexual abusers also pose to children.

DOE Study: Among educators, 57.2 percent of abusers are male and 42.4 percent of abusers are female.

Conclusion:
There are many preconceived notions and unfounded beliefs about child sexual abuse that are challenged by both the Protecting God’s Children material and the DOE study. Adults in the community, including teachers, must take responsibility for creating safe environments for all of God’s children by learning how to recognize the signs of someone who is at risk of harm and by reporting suspected abuse to the proper authorities.
By avoiding the distraction of myths and unfounded beliefs, we can work together to focus on the warning signs of abuse and abusers, and on taking positive steps to prevent abuse from happening—primarily by preventing anyone from having unsupervised access to our children.
Our children are depending on us—not just in the Church, but also in our schools, our homes, our neighborhoods, and our communities. Now is the time to put a stop to this crime and to protect our children from those who would prey on them