March 2015 eNews
Jim Hmurovich, President
Karen Baker & Maia Christopher, Past Presidents
National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation
www.preventtogether.org
l
email: [email protected]
Congressional Briefing on the Enough Abuse Campaign, March 3, 2015.
Adapted summary: On March 3rd, Senator Elizabeth Warren hosted a Congressional Briefing on
the Enough Abuse Campaign in Washington for Congressional members and their staffs from
Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, California, and Nevada where the Campaign has
been adopted as the framework for child sexual abuse prevention efforts. Developed in Massachusetts in 2002 through a 5-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
and supported in part by the Ms. Foundation for Women, Enough Abuse is a comprehensive child
sexual abuse prevention model that includes state and community-level coalition building; training of parents, professionals and youth; policy development for schools and youth-serving organizations; and legislative advocacy to prevent sexual abuse, support survivors, and hold abusers
accountable. Campaign leaders and participants engaged in a discussion about strategies to promote better awareness in Congress about child sexual abuse prevention, engage federal agencies
in prevention work, and sustain and expand the Campaign’s model to other states.
From the NEARI Press March newsletter Damned if you do...damned if you don’t. How
prevalent is sexting among today’s teens and
what is the impact of this new behavior?
Adapted summary: This article looks at the
issue of sexting. Despite extensive media attention to this issue, the number of teens engaging in this practice is still relatively small. So
why are we looking at this? First, the impact of
sexting upon girls (and not boys) is significant.
Second, the perception among teens is that it
is much more common that it really is – a definite teachable moment. And third, it seems to
be slowly becoming viewed as a normal part
of teen courtship rituals. Given the role that
treatment providers have in teaching pro-social
engagement with peers, attention to this issue
should be incorporated.
Thorn Digital Defenders of Children introduces
a new resource and research page to combat
child sexual exploitation!
Adapted summary: Thorn’s mission is to drive
technology innovation to combat the sexual exploitation of children by working with technology companies, anti-trafficking organizations,
survivors and law enforcement to combat child
sexual exploitation through victim identification
and support, deterring predatory behavior and
providing the public with resources to join the
fight. Read such documents as: Industry Sound
Practices to Guide to Stopping Child Abuse, a
trafficking demand brief, an employee resilience guide, a survivor experiences guide titled
The Use of Technology to Recruit, Groom and
Sell Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Victims, as
well as a foster care risk factor document.
Registration open for the 2015 National Sexual Assault Conference September 2-4 in LA!
Adapted summary: Hosted by the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, this year’s theme is Inspired
by Progress, United by Purpose.
The purpose of this eNews is to provide members of the National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse & Exploitation monthly updates on
trends, issues, studies, and work being done in the field of child sexual exploitation prevention. If you believe you are receiving this email in error
or would like to unsubscribe from this service, please email: [email protected].
1
Can family secrets make you sick? March 2,
2015. NPR.
Adapted summary: Now, 15 years after the ACE
study came out, some scientists are trying to
connect the dots to get a clearer picture of
what exactly adverse childhood experiences do
to the body and why the study results came out
the way they did. “Well, you’ve reshaped the
biology of the child,” says Megan Gunnar, PsyD
at the University of Minnesota who studies
the ways children respond to stressful experiences. This growing body of research indicates
that the health of millions of children is being
shaped by abuse and neglect. These children
will be more likely than other children to use
behaviors like smoking, drinking and overeating to cope with stress. Preventing childhood
trauma in the first place, Felitti, Anda and their
proponents believe, is one of the biggest opportunities to prevent disease — and save billions in
health care costs. It’s an opportunity, they say,
that American medicine and the health care
industry still seem to be missing.
National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Resource Guide has launched a site to promote
April 19-25, 2015.
Adapted summary: Each April, the Office of
Victims of Crimes helps lead communities
throughout the country in their annual observances of National Crime Victim’ Rights Week
(NCVRW) which will be observed April 19–25,
2015. This year’s theme Engaging Communities.
Empowering Victims emphasizes the role of the
entire community, individually and collectively,
as we support victims of crime and empower
them to direct their own recovery.
Coming soon! MassKids will release Sexual Abuse Safe-Child Standards on April 1, 2015.
Adapted summary: To kick off April as Child Abuse Prevention Month, MassKids, lead agency for
the Enough Abuse Campaign, is releasing “Sexual Abuse Safe-Child Standards,” its latest resource to help schools and youth organizations strengthen their capacity to protect the children
and youth they serve from sexual abuse. The 24-page document identifies six core standards
with accompanying action steps to help organizations meet each standard. Research shows that
to truly impact protective behaviors organizations need to combine education of their personnel, participants and parents about child sexual abuse prevention with policies and practices that
work together to achieve desired improvements. The “Safe-Child Standards” builds on MassKids’
previous work in this area and supports that dual strategy. MassKids is happy to share this sneak
peak of the “Safe-Child Standards” with NCMEC subscribers in advance of the official release Download the Standards here!
New ATSA Blog post: How precision in language can help prevent sexual abuse. February 20,
2015.
Adapted summary: Author Kelly Babchishin makes an important point that those who are sexually
attracted to children are not the same as what we call a sex offender (someone who has sexually
abused and has been caught). Working with those who are committed to not causing harm is an
important area for discussion. Primary prevention of sexual abuse involves targeting root problems to prevent the abuse from occurring in the first place. This article will summarize why I believe it is important to discuss the popular but imprecise belief that someone who holds a sexual
interest in children is eventually going to commit a sexual offence against a child.
National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation
www.preventtogether.org
l
email: [email protected]
2
Center for Disease Control releases: “Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence, Stalking, and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization — National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, United States.” February 25, 2015.
Adapted summary: This Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Brief, also published in
the American Journal of Public Health, highlights 2011 data from the National Intimate Partner
and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS). These data were originally published in a MMWR Surveillance
Summary. The findings emphasize that sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence are
major public health problems in the U.S. Nearly 1 in 5 women (19%) and 1 in 59 men (nearly 2%) in
the U.S. have experienced rape or attempted rape at some time in their lives.
One in 5 women (22%) and 1 in 7 men (14%) reported experiencing severe physical violence by an
intimate partner in their lifetime. One in 7 women (15%) and 1 in 18 men (6%) have experienced
stalking victimization during their lifetime in which they felt very fearful or believed that they or
someone close to them would be harmed or killed. Much of the stalking victimization was facilitated by technology (i.e., unwanted phone calls and text messages). Results suggest these forms of
violence are frequently experienced at an early age, with a majority reporting victimization before
age 25. Consistent with previous studies, results suggest women, in particular, are heavily impacted
over their lifetime and certain racial/ethnic groups experience a comparatively higher burden.
CALCASA Blog: The Hunting Ground: Catalyst for action to end sexual violence on campus in
2015. February 12, 2015
Adapted summary: In 2014, sexual assault on college campuses became front-page news – in 2015 it will have an even
larger profile as activists, journalists, filmmakers, government officials sexual violence prevention practitioners, and
college administrators will be taking more action on this
topic. The White House established a task force, issued a
report and developed the It’s on Us campaign to address
the issue. The Hunting Ground premiered at the Sundance
Film Festival, where it was one of the “Top 10 Buzzed About
Festival Films.” It is a compelling and moving account of the
horrors of the experience of rape, the even more horrifying
complacency of colleges mishandling, ignoring and minimizing sexual assault, and the flourishing powerful student
movement to create change. This film will be an important
catalyst for action to support efforts toward preventing
sexual violence.
NSVRC’s team is excited to share Sexual Assault Awareness Month 2015 updates!
Adapted summary: Sexual Assault Awareness Month is less than a month away. Are you ready for
April 2015? The SAAM 2015 campaign is all about campus sexual violence prevention. It’s a call to
action to create safer campuses and brighter futures for all. Everyone has a role to play in creating
change. This campaign is a toolkit for advocates, campus personnel, students and allies. These materials can be used to engage the entire community to take action to end sexual assault. There are
factsheets, posters, and planning tools to get you started. There are also plenty of ways to spread
the word about #SAAM on social media.
National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation
www.preventtogether.org
l
email: [email protected]
3
The Department of Justice, Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending,
Registering and Tracking (SMART) releases
new report and web series on is known and
not about sexual offending and sex offender
management and treatment!
Adapted summary: The webinars are based
on reviews of the scientific literature on sex
offending and sex offender management and
treatment topics conducted by a team of subject-matter experts as part of the SMART Office
Sex Offender Management Assessment and
Planning Initiative (SOMAPI). The series will
consist of nine webinars, each addressing one
or more sexual offending or sex offender management and treatment topics. The webinar
series will primarily address adult and juvenile
issues separately. Each webinar will focus on
the evidence from state-of-the-art research,
knowledge gaps, unresolved controversies,
and the implications of key research findings
for policy and practice also will be discussed.
Registration is now open for the first webinar
in this series which will cover: Incidence and
Prevalence of Sexual Offending, and the Etiology of Adult Sexual Offending. This webinar will
take place March 30, 2015 from 2-3:30pmET.
The Internet Watch Foundation or IWF Press
Release: New research published - Youth Produced Sexual Content (March 10, 2015).
Adapted summary: The study was carried out
by IWF in partnership with Microsoft and was
initially designed to expand upon our 2012 research, Self-Generated Sexually Explicit Images
and Videos Featuring Young People Online.
The term youth-produced means created by a
young person or child with no adult visible in
the image. It is important to note this study did
not look at the issue of coercion, or the reasons
why the young person took part. IWF CEO Susie
Hargreaves said: “This study shows a behaviour
among young people which is different to what
we observed previously. Far removed from ‘selfies’, taken and shared between young people
in relationships, this shows children and young
adults displaying sexual behaviour via web cam
to one or many individuals. We’ve observed
children doing this often from a bedroom or
bathroom. Some children and young people
appear to actively engage with the individual
or individuals at the other end of the webcam.
Others we noted were upset and distressed at
what they were being asked to do.
Homeless teens at greater risk of sex trafficking. March 10, 2015. CNBC.
Adapted summary: Covenant House International President Kevin Ryan announces the results of
a new study by the Modern Slavery Research Project at Loyola University and Covenant House
New Orleans: Trafficking and Exploitative Labor Among Homeless Youth in New Orleans. The study
reveals that 14% of homeless youth staying at Covenant House New Orleans had been victims of
human trafficking, and 25% had been involved in sexual labor (trafficked for sex or worked as commercial sex workers). This new study underscores how difficult it must be for a homeless young
person simply to walk down the street. Almost a third of the kids interviewed said strangers had
approached them to trade sex, or to participate in other illegal or informal work, most often in the
sex trade. The kids valued the protection Covenant House offers. When we partnered with Fordham
University and completed a similar study at Covenant House New York, the news was bad—almost
1 in 4 of our surveyed young people had been trafficked or had participated in survival sex. Future
studies of our youth are in the planning stages for Covenant Houses in Los Angeles, Oakland, California, Philadelphia, and Atlantic City and Newark in New Jersey. The New Orleans study uncovered
some results that surprised us, and highlight the need for this additional research. For example,
3 of the 11 sex trafficking victims were male, and young men accounted for a third of the reported
cases of child sex trafficking.
National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation
www.preventtogether.org
l
email: [email protected]
4