Archive for the ‘Sexual Assault Prevention’ Category

Protect Children in your organization by identifying child sexual abusers

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

Project Impact is pleased to announce the addition of The Diana Screen to our sexual assault prevention assessment services.

What is The Diana Screen?

The Diana Screen is a two-part computerized test, developed by Gene Abel M.D., of Abel Screening Inc.. This non-invasive assessment is used to determine the risk of the test-taker having sexually abused a child in the past.
While The Diana Screen is a pass / fail test, it goes beyond a simple questionnaire to include objectively measured sexual interest in children. While The Diana Screen is new, the technology that identifies sexual interest, which is a major part of The Diana Screen formula, has been empirically validated and has been in use by therapists and criminal justice professionals more than 100,000 times.

Who should use it?

Any organization where there are professionals or volunteers who work with children. The Diana Screen protects children from sexual abuse and helps protect the organization from sexual abuse litigation.

We already do criminal records and background checks…why should we use The Diana Screen?

While criminal record checks, background checks, sex offender registries, interviewing, and even psychological evaluations are all important and should be done, none of these specifically address sexual interest in children. Furthermore, only about 4% of all child sexual abusers have a criminal record; the majority of individuals who molest children have never been convicted and therefore, would likely pass a criminal background check and could end up having unrestricted access to children within the organization.

Questions?

Contact Project Impact today to find out how to protect children in your organization.

Posted in Sexual Assault Prevention | No Comments »

Just how many registered sex offenders are out there.

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

As of November, 2007 the Oregon Department of State Police, Sex Offender Registry Unit reports that there are 1258 registered sex offenders living in Lane County. In Oregon there are 14,193 and Nationally it is estimated that there are over 627 thousand registered sex offenders living in the U.S.

Here are a couple things to consider in all of this:

  • Remember these numbers only represent adult sexual offenders and do not include juvenile sexual offenders. Juveniles constitute 20% of all sexual offenses.
  • Sexual abuse continues to be one of the most underreported crimes – only 10-20% of all sexual assaults ever get reported to law enforcement in the first place, and only 20-40% of those cases ever end in successful prosecution, which will result in a offender having to register. What happens to the 80% of sexual abusers that never get reported on? How do these registration laws protect us from those undetected offenders?
  • Only 5-10% of all newly committed sexual offenses are perpetrated by a registered sex offender. Therefore, 90-95% of all new sexual offenses are committed by citizens without a sexual offense criminal history.
  • It is estimated that only 4% of all child sexual abusers have a criminal history.
  • It has been estimated that 10-35% of registered sexual offenders information is either falsified or outdated and no longer accurate.
  • Remember 85% of all sexual assault victims either were related to or knew the offender.

Posted in Adult Sex Offenders, Sexual Abuse in our Society, Sexual Assault Prevention | No Comments »

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) position on Adam Walsh Act

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

Adam Walsh Policy

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) agrees with the overall purpose of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, P.L. 109-248, to protect the public, particularly children, from violent sex offenders. States have recognized the need to deter sex offenders, provide law enforcement with means for identifying and tracking locations of sex offenders and increase public protection from dangerous offenders with laws that require released sex offenders to register with law enforcement or other state agencies. Each state has sex offender registration laws, and, since inception of these laws many states have expanded requirements to include more categories of offenders, extended the duration of registration for the most serious offenders, added requirements for updating and verifying registry information, and established penalties for non-compliance.

NCSL objects to the Adam Walsh Act’s one-size-fits all approach to classifying, registering and, in some circumstances, sentencing sex offenders. These provisions preempt many state laws and create an unfunded mandate for states because there are no appropriations in the Act or in any appropriations bill. Many of the provisions of the Adam Walsh Act were crafted without state input or consideration of current state practices. The mandates imposed by the Adam Walsh Act are inflexible and, in some instances, not able to be implemented.

NCSL urges Congress, in partnership with the States, to amend the Adam Walsh Act as follows:

1. Delay the implementation date of the Act until three years from the date final registration guidelines have been issued so that states know with what they are to comply.

2. Reinstitute the incentive grant provisions of the Act to permit States to submit application for determination of compliance.

3. Clarify that the Adam Walsh Act is applicable only to currently registered sex offenders or qualifying offenders who are in corrections custody in the states and not to those who, under state law, have fulfilled their registration requirement. This serves to respect state sovereignty for very fundamental aspects of state sex offender registration law.

4. Permit states to classify sex offenders according to their current state laws. The imposition of federally-defined tier classifications are confusing when compared to state crime classes and definitions, and therefore are overly-burdensome for states.

5. Permit states to penalize sex offenders according to their current state laws, including penalties for failure to register as required.

6. Incorporate flexibility in the implementation of the registration and publication requirements so as not to run afoul of any state’s constitution or statutory provisions. Every state has means by which registration information is publicly accessible, in accordance with state law.

7. Remove responsibility placed on states to interpret foreign convictions and place this responsibility with federal law enforcement where it properly belongs.

8. Allow states to define which juvenile offenders meet criteria for sex offender registration. States must preserve authority for which juvenile offenders are treated like adults, under what circumstances and for how long.

9. Recognize that states assuming the responsibility of tribal registries under the act may face increased compliance difficulties. Permit additional compliance time for states in that circumstance.

10. Provide that technological record-keeping requirements be contingent upon appropriations of sufficient funding to states to implement these changes.

11. Incorporate language establishing a stakeholder advisory board of state and local national associations, like NCSL, to provide guidance and counsel to the Office of Justice Programs SMART office that is responsible for regulations and compliance under the Adam Walsh Act.

Posted in Sexual Assault Prevention | 1 Comment »

Will states say ‘no’ to Adam Walsh Act?

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

The following article was written by John Gramlish, of Stateline.org

Facing a 2009 deadline to comply with a controversial federal law intended to crack down on sex offenders, states are nearing a crossroads. They either must fall in line with the statute or ignore it and absorb the penalty a 10-percent cut to their share of funds in a congressional grant program used to fight crime. With most state legislatures reconvening this month, debate is likely to resume soon over the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which President Bush signed in 2006.

The sweeping law, named after the murdered 6-year-old son of Americas Most Wanted host John Walsh, requires states to adopt, by July next year, strict new standards for registering sex offenders and providing public information about their crimes and whereabouts. It calls on states to publish photos and addresses of sex offenders online and dramatically toughens criminal penalties for those who fail to register, among other provisions.

For months, however, state legislators across the country have criticized the law as a one-size-fits-all approach that does not give states enough time, money or flexibility to make the changes sought by the federal government. Critics point out that the U.S. Justice Department has yet to issue final guidelines for
states to follow, leaving them with roughly half the time originally allotted by Congress to comply with the act.

A Justice Department spokeswoman, Sarah Matz, said the guidelines still are being evaluated internally. Strenuous objections also have been raised by states and advocacy groups over some of the acts provisions. One in particular has raised concern:a requirement that some juveniles as young as 14 be listed on states online sex-offender registries. Most states do not include juveniles on online registries, and juvenile-rights advocates say listing young offenders on the Internet could subject them to harassment or violence. “You’re damaging their lives and not serving any public safety,”said Sarah Bryer, director of the National Juvenile Justice Network. Bryer said juvenile sex offenders can be rehabilitated and are not as likely as adults to repeat their crimes.

Citing those complaints and others, state lawmakers are questioning whether it makes sense to comply with the act by its 2009 deadline, if at all, said Donna Lyons, a criminal justice analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), an alliance representing the nation=92s state legislators. The organization recently released a policy statement and approved unanimously by more than 7,000 state lawmakers seeking congressional amendments to revise the act.

States are looking at cost-benefit analyses and asking, “Is it worth the 10 percent we’re going to lose?” Lyons said, referring to the penaltystates would face for not complying with the act a 10-percent reduction in criminal justice funding provided by the Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.

States use Byrne grants to pay for drug task forces, anti-gang units, police overtime and other law enforcement activities. But funding for the grant program itself was slashed by 67 percent from $520 million last fiscal year to $170 million this year in a $555 billion appropriations bill signed by Bush last month. “That deep cut has figured into state lawmakers thinking as they compare the costs of complying with the Adam Walsh Act with the costs of not complying,” said Susan Parnas Frederick, senior committee director of NCSL’s Law and Criminal Justice Committee in Washington. “What’s 10 percent of nothing, anyway? Maybe we’ll just do what were doing, lose the 10 percent and not have to deal with all this garbage,” Frederick said.

At least six states Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Ohio last year revised sex-offender laws in an effort to comply with the act. The Justice Department rejected Louisiana’s efforts as not enough, and has yet to rule on the other states laws, many of which went into effect Jan. 1.

States found to substantially comply with the act by July of this year are eligible for extra
federal dollars for sex offender management. Frederick said federal financial incentives may motivate states to comply with the act, despite many lawmakers objections.

Matz, of the U.S. Justice Department, noted that states can apply for a pair of one-year extensions under the act if they fail to comply by next year’s deadline. Extensions must be approved on a case-by-case basis by Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey. “We want to give people enough time. We want to be available for assistance,” Matz said.

In Ohio, legal challenges to the state’s three-week-old law already are mounting. Lawyers have challenged a provision of the law making new registration rules retroactive to old cases another requirement under the Adam Walsh Act. The state recently sent notices to thousands of sex offenders informing them of new registration obligations. Jon Paul Rion, a Dayton criminal defense attorney whose firm is representing more than 35 sex offenders with challenges to the new law, told Stateline.org the provision for retroactivity violates constitutional guarantees by imposing punishments beyond those originally handed down by courts.

But the Ohio attorney general’s office, which helped craft the states version of the Adam Walsh Act, has stood by the law, claiming that registration is not criminal punishment, but a civil regulatory measure that enhances public safety.

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The Diana Screen – Who is Diana?

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008

Diana, a beautiful and talented girl, spent her first seven years in foster care and group homes. Starting at age five, or perhaps even earlier, she was severely sexually abused on a daily basis. When she was seven, she was adopted by a very loving family and under their care she thrived and became an accomplished gymnast. She was artistic, resourceful and popular. In high school she made many of her own clothes and wrote an advice column for the student paper.

Diana didn’t talk about her abuse until she became a teenager. The family contacted the foster care administrator to report the abuse. The administrator expressed doubt about Diana’s story stating, “they had known the many for years.” A short while later, Diana’s abuser phoned the family and confirmed that Diana spoke the truth about the abuse. Diana’s adoptive parents did everything they could to help Diana heal from the past. No amount of love or therapy could bring back the self-esteem her abuser stole from her.

Even with her strong will to overcome her childhood trauma, Diana and her family suffered a final tragedy when she ended her own life.

Diana’s abuser, in addition to being the man who stayed all night with the children in the foster group home, was a family man, and a father.

Had this man been screened, Diana and countless other children might have been saved from even knowing the horror of sexual abuse.

In honor of Diana, and those who survived their childhood sexual abuse, Project Impact is pleased to provide The Diana Screen from Abel Screening Inc.. The Diana Screen identifies people who have a high probability of having sexually abused a child in the past.

The Diana Screen is intended to screen people who will be placed in positions of trust with children.

For more information on preventing sexual abuse in our communities, please contact Project Impact

www.endsexualabuse.com

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The Uncomfortable Truth – America’s Silent Epidemic

Wednesday, December 12th, 2007

Throughout our lives we are, from time to time, confronted with information that challenges our conventional way of thinking. For example, our changing attitudes about “second hand smoke” has changed public policy regarding smoking in public areas. Public education has also helped Americans understand that AIDS is not a “homosexual disease,” but one that can infect everyone through a variety of sexual behaviors and through intravenous drug use. Consider the following.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the federal agency responsible for the prevention of health problems, has been working on violence prevention for more than 12 years. The CDC’s focus has been on changing the way people think about preventing violence. On November, 6,1996, the American Medical Association (AMA) issued a statement calling sexual assault a public health problem, labeling sexual assault a “silent violent epidemic in the United States today.” The World Health Assembly (WHA) also considers violence, and the prevention of violence as a public health priority. WHA has declared that violence is a leading worldwide public health problem. The American Psychological Association (APA) has also declared violence to be a serious societal problem and recognizes the need for addressing the violence problem from a different perspective. The APA states; “Societal attitudes and practices regarding violence also have an influence on the risk of family violence.” The Oregon Department of Human Services in their Recommendations to Prevent Sexual Violence in Oregon: A Plan Of Action 2006 report strongly recommends that more needs to be done to prevent sexual violence before it occurs, that we need to reduce the risk of sexual violence to our vulnerable populations, as well as create a climate where sexual violence is not tolerated. These efforts by these esteemed organizations are a wake-up call to America.

Legislators and the public repeatedly turn to the criminal justice system to solve sexual violence in America. However, the series of tougher laws padded each year to address sexual violence, passed each year to guide the criminal justice system, do not address the underlying causes of violence or sexual abuse. The continued rise in sexual abuse suggests that our over-reliance on the criminal justice model for preventing and public health epidemic is akin to us attempting to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS by simply locking up and attempting to provide supervision to everyone who suffers from this condition.

During the past decade, we have seen legislation regarding sexual offenses that 1) mandates public notification of when sex offenders are released back into our communities, 2) requirement that mandate that convicted sexual offenders must register their residency with law enforcement every year, 3) lifetime incarceration for third time offenders, and 4) Residency restrictions and GPS monitoring for offenders on supervision. Unfortunately what we are know finding out is that we do not have sufficient resources to effectively apply and enforce these laws and therefore community safety is compromised.

For example each year law enforcement agencies spend millions of dollars in an attempt to verify sex offender registrations to only find out that anywhere between 10 and 30% of the information contained on an individuals registration is inaccurate or that an individual did not comply with registration, resulting in us not knowing where these offenders are, or what they are doing.

Residency restrictions might make us all feel better, but decades of criminological research have concluded that stability and support increase the likelihood of successful reintegration for offenders, and public policies that make it more difficult for offenders to succeed may jeopardize public safety (Petersilia, 2003). In Colorado, it was found that sex offenders who had a positive support system in their lives had significantly lower recidivism and less rule violations than those who had negative or no support (Colorado
Department of Public Safety, 2004). Sex offenders who maintain social bonds to communities through stable employment and family relationships have lower recidivism rates than those without jobs or significant others. “Offenders can do quite well in the community within the confines of supervision, treatment, and stable employment” (Kruttschnitt et al., 2000, p. 83).

Global Posititioning Systems (GPS) let us monitor where the offenders are in our community, but it does not tell us who the offender is with. Therefore it is likely that a convicted child mollestor could look compliant on the GPS monitor and not draw attention to himself, but he/she could easily be at home with a minor and no one would know.

Some suggest that these laws have resulted in a decrease of sexual abuse in our society while others will raise the concern that it has been widely publicized that sexual abuse has always been one of the least reported of all crimes (it is estimated that only 1 in 10 sexual assaults ever get reported to law enforcement, and approximately only 10-30% of those reported to law enforcement ever end in prosecution of the offender).

These mandates, and in some cases unfunded, laws are examples of “feel good” legislation and have been shown to be only partially effective with all sexual abusers. Occasionally, these laws may cause more harm than good as they drive the sexual abuser further into secrecy and minimize the opportunity for successful rehabilitation and reintegration into our community.

The AMA states, “Society as a whole must become better informed about the problems and realities of sexual assault. Special attention must be directed to correcting misconceptions and myths about rape and sexual assault.”

Now is the time for all of us to begin changing the way we think about sexual abuse and how to prevent it form happening in the first place. From a prevention standpoint we can do several things.

First, the most important action we can take to prevent the sexual abuse in our community it to educate ourselves and not minimize the seriousness of the issue and inform educate others about the dynamics of this serious social problem.

Secondly, we must be willing to challenge the the current practice of having the Criminal Justice System be our primary fix to preventing sexual abuse in our communities.

Thirdly, we must look outside the box and find ways to create sound policies and standards that expand on our current pre-employment / volunteer and supervision screening process for offenders and look at the current research on effective ways to objectively identify those who have a sexual interest in children and/or violence, and provide intervention services to those who have managed to escape detection.

Current practices for agencies and organizations is to require individuals to undergo a ‘Criminal Background Check’. These criminal background checks are a good first line of defense, however, they are not without their limitations and high error rate. Based on low reporting and prosecution rates for sexual offenses, these Criminal Background Checks have shown that they will only be able to identify 3 to 10 out of 100 child sexual abusers. Therefore the Criminal Background Checks only provide agencies or organizations very limited information or opportunity to best protect themselves and their clients from those 80 to 90 child sexual abusers that have not been caught.

Few people disagree with the statistics that suggest that criminal sexual abuse has reached epidemic proportions in our country, however, there is much disagreement and debate about what are the most effective ways to address this serious social problem and how we can best prevent it in the future.

I encourage you to look at the past twenty or thirty years and decide for yourself if our current methods and strategies of creating tougher laws and punishing sexual abusers are resulting in a decrease in criminal sexual abuse. I believe the answer to this question is “no,” and therefore, I believe we must rethink what directions we need to take in the future.

What we must keep in mind is that punishment is not prevention. I believe the criminal justice system must play a role in holding offenders accountable after the fact, however the criminal justice system is limited in it’s ability to prevent a sexual offense from happening or identifying those who have a sexual interest in children who have not been caught yet.

We must educate ourselves about the dynamics of sexual abuse and sexual violence, its origins, and figure out ways to best get at the root of the problem. We should be looking at ways to support services that provide opportunities for individuals who have a sexual behavior problems and their families to come forward and receive appropriate resources and referral information without the worry of being turned into the authorities. Prevention is not punishing a behavior after it occurs. Prevention is stopping the problem before it occurs.

At Project Impact we specialize in providing primary perpetrator prevention services that include

  • Empirically Validated, Non-Invasive Sexual Interest Assessments
  • Community Education
  • Intervention and Support Services

Posted in Sexual Abuse in our Society, Sexual Assault Prevention | No Comments »

Sexual Abuse a Local, Statewide and National Problem – Some articles from the first week in April 2007

Thursday, April 5th, 2007

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Approximately 1 in 6 adult women in Oregon has been the victim of forcible rape in her lifetime. 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be victims of sexual abuse before their 18th birthday. Sexual assault affects everyone, whether you are a victim, family member, friend, employer, co-worker, neighbor or community member. However, due to the nature of this issue, not many people want to acknowledge or admit that sexual abuse is an issue we need to face. Therefore to overcome, minimization, denial, I have posted some articles from this weeks local papers. In hopes to shed light on the prevalence of this issue. I would remind folks that only 10% of all sexual assault cases are ever reported to law enforcement in the first place – so I think it is safe to say that these reported incidents are just the tip of the Iceberg.

Locally – the University of Oregon Newspaper the Oregon Emerald reports on Monday April 2nd, .

Man arrested for masturbating in library

By: Trevor Davis | News Reporter Oregon Emerald Newspaper

Issue date: 4/2/07 Section: Front Page
Department of Public Safety and Eugene Police officers responded to a report of a transient man masturbating and viewing pornography on an open-access computer at the Knight Library around 9:30 p.m. on March 22, Eugene police said.

Ryan Carl Mesaros, 25, was arrested on previous warrants and was charged with public indecency and cited for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana, Eugene police spokeswoman Kerry Delf said.

A student assistant working at the Current Periodicals desk reported that a man using a public computer on the third floor was viewing pornography and masturbating, said Mark Watson, associate university librarian for Collections & Access. Library staff then called DPS.

Delf said DPS officers saw the man “actively masturbating,” and the Eugene Police Department was called to assist DPS officers.

Watson said similar incidents happen two or three times each year.

“These are the ones that we know about, that people come tell us and we respond to,” Watson said. “My guess is that you can figure if we have two or three of these a year that we handle in a formal way, there are probably some more that happen that we don’t ever hear about.”

Andrew Bonamici, associate University librarian for Instructional Services, said the library isn’t considering filtering Internet access and said he isn’t aware of any public academic research library that would do so.

“We don’t put filters on the computers or say you can’t look at pornography or other kinds of sexual materials or erotic materials because in some cases those may be objects of study,” Bonamici said.

Library officials started a safety monitor program last fall and trained student staff, mainly to prevent theft, Watson said. When library patrons leave their belongings unattended, for example, safety monitors will either leave a note or tell the owner to keep a closer eye on their possessions.

“We really weren’t trying to have students act like security personnel,” Watson said. “We just want them to be a visible presence in the building.” He added that safety monitors won’t apprehend anyone and are instructed to contact DPS.

The library is open 24 hours a day during finals and dead week, and a security firm is hired to monitor the building and check for student identification at the entrance from midnight to 8 a.m.

Bonamici said that students who see suspicious activity in the library should contact staff immediately.

“Because Knight Library is a very large facility, we need help from everyone using it to help monitor the environment,” he said.

Department of Public Safety officials could not be reached for comment.

In OREGON - Reported in the Register Guard on 4/3/07.

Roman Catholic priest investigated in abuse

PORTLAND – A Roman Catholic priest in Tillamook is under investigation by police after accusations that he molested a child in Portland, church officials said.

The Rev. Joseph V. Hoang, 39, was put on administrative leave March 19 after the Portland Archdiocese received a report of sexual abuse, church spokesman Bud Bunce told the Oregonian.

Church officials later learned that a criminal investigation by Portland Police already was under way, Bunce said.

Sgt. Brian Schumautz confirmed an investigation but would not release details surrounding the case.

Hoang has been the pastor at Sacred Heart Catholic Churce in Tillamook since September 2004, Bunce said. The allegations did not involve a Sacred Heart parishioner, he said.

NATIONALLY: As reported on 4/3/07 by the Associated Press

Sex Sting nets 28 Florida suspects

ORLANDO, Fla. – Three Walt Disney Co. employees were among 28 men charged with soliciting sex from a minor amid a weeklong sting operation in the Orlando area, authorities said. The men, ranging in age from college students to their 40’s and 50’s, had chatted online with people they believed to be boys and girls, ages 13 and 14.

Several agencies worked together to set up the sting at a Polk County home, where the suspects were arrested through Sunday. Three of the men worked for Walt Disney Co., on as a 21-year old intern, another as a 55-year old part-time instructor at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and the third as a 44-year old electronics technician.
Contact the crime, health and safety reporter at tdavis@dailyemerald.com

Project Impact: Preventing Sexual Abuse in our Communities

Assessment

Community Education

Intervention Services

www.endsexualabuse.com

Posted in Sexual Abuse in our Society, Sexual Assault Prevention | No Comments »

One man’s efforts to reduce sexual abuse in our society.

Wednesday, March 28th, 2007

Hi my name is David Victor and I am the Executive Director/Founder of Project Impact – a newly formed public benefit non-profit, pending 501(3)(c) confirmation from the IRS. Project Impact is located in Eugene, Oregon and is dedicated to the reduction and prevention of sexual abuse in our society. Project Impact’s perpetrator prevention focus and media campaigns will deliver information to individuals and groups that turn worry, fear and shame into action. We provide resources and information for all adults to recognize and challenge behaviors they see in others that put individuals at risk to be sexually victimized. We also provide assessments, and intervention services to individuals, and family members, as well as to people at risk to abuse.

I am a graduate of the University of Oregon (GO DUCKS) and have over 17-years of clinical experience working with survivors and perpetrators of sexual violence. I started out as a victim advocate and child assault prevention facilitator/coordinator for the Shasta County Women’s Refuge (1987-1991) , a juvenile sex offender group home counselor for Family Life Center in Petaluma Ca. (1991-92), a mentor for at-risk youth (1994-95), and a sex offender therapist for adult sex offenders at Lane County Sex Offender Treatment Program (1995-2005). I have conducted research on Perceived parental acceptance vs. rejection of adult male sex offenders (1998), The management/supervision and treatment practices of sexual offenders in Lane County (2004), and The status of Sexual Assault Response Teams throughout Oregon (2006). I am a Professional Member of Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA), Past Board Member and Member of the Oregon Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (OATSA), I was the Chairperson for the Lane County Sexual Assault Response Team (2005-2007), I am a Member of the Prevention and Education Committee, as well as, the Prison Rape Elimination Act Workgroup for the Oregon Attorney General Sexual Assault Task Force.

In the coming weeks, months and years, I will be updating this blog and passing on information to the masses in hopes that more people will become involved in this silent public health epidemic.

I believe that in order to truly prevent sexual abuse from occurring in the first place we need to shift our focus from having sexual abuse be a “women’s and girls issue” to putting the responsibility where it should be – and that is with men and adolescent boys in our society. I want to challenge all men and adolescent boys to join me in becoming part of the SOLUTION rather than the PROBLEM.

www.endsexualabuse.com

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