Ending the sex abuse epidemic: Schools are keeping their students at risk of abuse

BY LESLIE CROCKER SNYDER  NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, May 5, 2014, 4:30 AM
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ending-sex-abuse-epidemic-article-1.1777735 

Every week, we learn of new charges of sexual abuse and rape at schools that have allegedly mishandled or hidden complaints by victims. Last week it was Columbia University; the week before, it was Florida State.

It has been three years since the Penn State-Jerry Sandusky horror, and little has been accomplished. Almost as disturbing as the abuse itself are the revelations of institutional bungling of investigations, and sometimes, failure to investigate at all.

Sadly, sexual abuse extends far beyond the church, the military, sports and our universities. It is widespread in our secondary schools, where it is estimated that one in five children has been abused by a school educator or employee between kindergarten and 12th grade.

By now, almost everyone has heard about the decades of sexual abuse at the Horace Mann school. Less well known is the fact that the school repeatedly failed to respond to dozens of abuse complaints.

For the past few months, I have been conducting an investigation into what happened at Horace Mann at the behest of an alumni group. The goal of our investigation is to explain the culture that allowed these terrible acts to occur repeatedly over 30 years.

As part of the investigation, we commissioned a study of how 20 other independent schools throughout the country have dealt with similar revelations in the recent past.

We found a disturbing pattern: Most complaints were quashed or ignored; victims were mislead and told they needed documentary proof of the abuse; victims were told it might hurt their college admission chances if they persisted in reporting complaints; schools failed to report abuse to law enforcement; they protected the abuser, put the interests of the school ahead of the victim. Most schools admitted the abuse only when forced to by exposure by the media.

The victims in all of these cases were young, impressionable and often unable to recover from the deep and lasting trauma of being abused by people who were their heroes and role models, beloved teachers or coaches. Many believed they were the accuser’s only victim and never reported it to anyone. This sense of isolation further traumatized them.

While every state has laws mandating that public schools report abuse by parents or guardians, these laws generally do not apply to abuse by school educators or employees. And even these inadequate laws do not apply to private schools. How can we ensure justice for young victims who may never recover from the trauma inflicted? We must make certain that private schools — and all other educational institutions — institute a series of reforms.

Hiring must include criminal background checks and reference checks; a detailed description of prohibited behavior, as well as the consequences of violations. And workplaces must provide annual training sessions for teachers and staff in recognizing, reporting and preventing sexual abuse.

Every school must put into place a mandatory system of reporting complaints of abuse to an independent council of well-credentialed persons, most of whom should be unconnected to the school.

Under the Clery Act, American colleges and universities that receive federal funds are required to make all incidents of crime and sexual abuse public. Private schools should be required to do the same. Parents should know whether their children’s school is safe before they enroll, not after sexual abuse is reported in the media.

It is also critical that all credible instances of abuse be disclosed to any potential employer to keep an abuser from being hired by an unsuspecting school or youth organization. We must prevent situations analogous to the deliberate re-shuffling of abusing priests in the Catholic church, by creating a registry of abusers available to any school or organization involved with children. This re-shuffling happened with several teachers at Horace Mann and has happened at many other schools.

And we must also finally fix overly restrictive statutes of limitations, which prevent many child victims from reporting crimes against them.

More broadly, we must find new ways to change the attitude of schools from self-protection to protection of the victims of these traumatic crimes. Penn State eventually cooperated. Horace Mann refused to cooperate and refused to conduct its own investigation.

In the past, the response of too many of our institutions to the epidemic of sexual abuse has been limited, inadequate and at times pathetic. Enough lip service. It is time for action.

Snyder has worked in the criminal justice system for over 35 years, both as a prosecutor and as a judge. She founded and led the Manhattan Sex Crimes Prosecution Bureau and co-authored New York’s Rape Shield Law.

Upcoming Child Abuse Prevention Training in Santa Rosa California!

Understanding and Responding to the Sexual Behaviors of Children

Who:  Parents, Caregivers and professionals working with children.

When:  Monday March 24^th

Registration begins at 6:15pm. Event Time is 6:30-8pm.

Where: California Parenting Institute, 3642 Standish Rd, Santa Rosa, CA . Conference room # 128.

Why: To raise community awareness about child abuse prevention.

To Register: Call Kate Robey, MFT at 585-6108 x1229 for more info or email:  kater@calparents.org     

“Understanding & Responding to the Sexual Behaviors of Children” is an interactive workshop designed for parents, early education and care professionals and others who have contact with children and/or their families.

Attendees will increase their knowledge & skills to:

• Identify “developmentally expected” sexual behaviors of children and youth; 
• Distinguish developmentally expected behaviors from those that might be inappropriate, coercive, abusive or illegal; 
• Respond to all sexual behaviors in ways that promote healthy development of children and that support bystanders who maybe affected.  

Several scenarios are presented describing sexual behaviors of children that participants might witness in their homes, in day care settings, schools and other youth-serving organizations. Small group discussions give participants an opportunity to apply their new knowledge about how to assess and respond to these behaviors in ways that model good communication, empathy and accountability. These responses can help build protective factors in children so that their risks to be victimized or to perpetrate sexual abuse can be reduced.

The Enough Abuse Campaign is a comprehensive state and community mobilization initiative working to build a movement of concerned citizens educated about child sexual abuse and engaged in direct actions to prevent it. The Campaign’s mission is to prevent adults from sexually abusing children today, and to promote the healthy development of children and youth so as to reduce sexually abusive behaviors from occurring in the future.

This presentation is based on concepts developed by Gail Ryan of the Kempe Children’s Center in Colorado.

Helping Parents Prevent Child Sexual Abuse

Helping Parents Prevent Child Sexual Abuse

Jetta Bernier's Guest Post to "Safe To Compete", a program of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
http://tmblr.co/Zf7J_qu3U8w5

Efforts to prevent child sexual abuse over the past decade are showing results and confirmed cases are down. Yet still too many children - an estimated 1 in 10 - are at risk of being sexually abused or exploited. As a parent, you can be your child’s best protection. Here’s how.

What’s a Parent to Do?

1. Begin talking to your child about body boundaries and privacy by age 3. Remember, it’s easy, if you begin early and reinforce messages over time.
2. Only allow those you trust to provide genital, perianal and bathing care for your child.
3. Encourage children’s independence in personal self-care.
4. Discourage co-bathing with siblings and adults.
5. Introduce concepts of “OK” and “Not OK” touch. Avoid using the terms “good or bad touch.”  Children get confused by the notions that a good person could touch then in a bad way; that touching in private parts can feel good yet be bad; and that being touched in a bad way might mean they are bad.  
6. Increase supervision. By reducing “one child/one adult” situations, you can reduce your child’s risk of abuse by an estimated 8o%.
7. Teach children and teens to respect adults’ and siblings’ privacy by modeling this behavior yourself.
8. Teach teens to practice equality and respect in their relationships and to demand the same.
9. Develop a safety plan with your teen in case he/she needs to get out of risky situations.
10. Encourage your teen to stay sober to reduce the risks of sexual abuse.

---


Jetta Bernier is Executive Director of Massachusetts Citizens for Children. She directs the Enough Abuse Campaign, a community mobilization and citizen education effort established in 2002 under a 5-year grant from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and supported in part by the Ms. Foundation for Women. The Campaign’s comprehensive model has now been adopted in Maryland, New Jersey, New York and regions of California. For more information about how to prevent child sexual abuse, visit www.enoughabuse.or

Your Action on SOL Needed Today!

News from the Coalition to Reform Sex Abuse Laws:

Your Action on SOL Needed Today!

In a strategic effort to move civil SOL reform forward, Senator Brownsberger yesterday personally reached out to his Senate colleagues to urge them to add their names to a letter that he and Rep. Lawn have drafted. The letter urges Senate President Murray and House Speaker DeLeo to shepherd SOL bills  S. 63 and H.1455 out of Committee and on to the Senate and House floors for a vote.   Within hours, 30 of 40 Senators had already signed the letter.  Rep. Lawn is reaching out to his House colleagues and expects strong support as well.

Your voice needs to be heard today.  Call your legislators and urge them to add their names to the letter.  If they have already done so, thank them and encourage them to ask their colleagues to do the same.  (Because Sen. Brownsberger and Rep. Lawn are reaching out personally to their colleagues, legislative aides may not yet be aware of this effort.  You should know this, in case aides tell you they have not seen such a letter.)  The letter will be sent to Speaker DeLeo and Senate President Murray on July 31 just before the August recess. It may be publicly released to the media at that time. Make sure your legislators’ names are on it.

Tell them that survivors and advocates intend to take the issue of SOL reform to the mat.  We expect them to take it to the Floor and vote to abolish or retroactively extend the civil SOL.   Survivors deserve justice and our children deserve action now.  Thanks and check CORSAL's website or Facebook page for regular updates!

A Child Advocate's Blog: Sex-Wise Parents can raise sexually safer and heal...

Sex-Wise Parents can raise sexually safer and healthier kids!

Reposted from the Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM,) Blog, original post found here: Sex-Wise Parents can raise sexually safer and healthier kids! | National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC)

This week the Talk Early, Talk Often series continues on the SAAM Blog with a guest post from author and expert Dr. Janet Rosenzweig. Join us on Tueday, April 2 for a twitter chat hosted by @JanetRosenzweig on child sexual abuse prevention. Use the hashtag #TweetAboutIt to participate. 

Parents are the strongest influence on their children's decisions about sex and sexuality, yet most parents underestimate their own power. A major national survey reported in 2010 that 46 percent of teens continue to say that parents most influence their decisions about sex, while just 20 percent say friends most influence their decisions. At the same time, parents overestimate the influence media and friends have on their children's decisions about sex and underestimate their own.

The same study tells us that 88 percent of parents agree with the statement that "parents believe they should talk to their kids about sex but often don’t know what to say, how to say it, or when to start." (Albert 2010)

It's easy to see why: They were raised in the era I've dubbed "The Neutered Nineties". That's when we traded rational discussion about sexuality for Megan's Laws and sex offender registries, in the name of 'prevention.' It's when cash-strapped school districts had to teach abstinence-only topics or lose federal funding. And when answering a question about masturbation at an AIDS conference got the U.S. surgeon general fired. Too many adults stopped talking to kids about sex. Qualified professionals went quiet and left a vacuum too easily filled by people who sexually offend.

Accurate and age-appropriate information about sex disappeared from most professional work in child sexual abuse, and it's time to put it back.

Where to start? With two critical messages for our children:

They need to know accurate names for all their body parts; and

They need to understand that physical sexual arousal is an autonomic response -- like getting goosebumps when tickled.

One now-grown female victim of child sexual abuse I interviewed for The Sex-Wise Parent told me that good touch-bad touch programs can actually be dangerous to a victim because sometimes the touch actually feels good! Further, men who were victims of sexual abuse report that the confusion resulting from a climax is one of the most difficult issues to resolve.

People who sexually offend exploit children's guilt and their lack of knowledge related to sexuality often try to convince them  that they must have actually enjoyed the abuse because of a physical response over which they have no control. Understanding sexual response is important for boys and girls -- people who prey on teen-aged girls exploit the fact that very few girls understand that their physical response to a sexual thought, feeling or touch has absolutely nothing to do with love.

Language and knowledge that parents equip children with are a defense against abuse. Raising a child who knows the parts of his or her body, and knows that it's safe to tell parents or a trusted adult if they have been touched, can prevent their victimization and probably other children's, too. And, if abuse occurs, harm may be mitigated if the child understands their body's response.

For parents who need support as they heed the advice to 'talk early-talk often,' I suggest practicing with friends and getting used to using sexual terms without discomfort. Take turns role-playing, asking each other the kinds of questions you fear getting from your children. Watch this video for ideas and encouragement. This may not be easy at first, but the reward can be lifelong -- a sexually safe and healthy child!

Find more ideas at my website and feel free to E-mail me your questions!

Dr. Janet Rosenzweig worked for the first sexual abuse helpline in the U.S., in Knox County, Tennessee; that project developed into a 5-county treatment program and a national multi-disciplinary training center. She has also managed child sexual abuse programs in Texas and New Jersey, and is the author of The Sex-Wise Parent: The Parent's Guide Protecting Your Child, Strengthening Your Family, and Talking to Kids about Sex, Abuse, and Bullying, (Skyhorse Publishing, 2012). She is currently the national consultant for child sexual abuse prevention programs for Prevent Child Abuse - America, a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania and a speaker offering keynotes and training nationally.

"We Can Make it Right" A Message from PCAA

We Can Make It Right.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[re-blogged from here]

CHICAGO, IL, January 14, 2013 – Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett recently launched a lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) seeking to have all of the NCAA penalties against Penn State’s football program thrown out. These sanctions brought about by the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse case include a $60 million fine which is to be used for funding child sexual abuse prevention and treatment programming.

The lawsuit represents an about face in terms of Governor Corbett’s public position on the sanctions. This past July he was quoted as saying, “We must repair the damage to this university. Part of that corrective process is to accept the serious penalties imposed by the NCAA on Penn State University and its football program.”

The temptation is to ask why Governor Corbett has chosen to do this, or even seek to answer that question ourselves. But asking why or trying to discern the impetus for this decision is not where we need to focus our attention. What’s important is recognizing that our real focus is on fixing an ugly situation that is all too common.

We live in a culture that up until now has allowed for silence and shame, and at times has all too willingly puts profits and brands ahead of people. It doesn’t have to be this way though, we can do what’s right, not sometimes, all the time, and when we do, what’s wrong will be illuminated for all to see.

Each one of us has the ability to change this culture; and both individually and collectively, we can do something every day to prevent not just child sexual abuse, but all forms of child abuse and neglect.

We can all knock on our neighbor’s doors and offer to be of assistance during times of crisis. We can all volunteer at child sexual abuse prevention organizations. We can all ask our local media to highlight what works in terms of enhancing the lives of the children and families in our communities. And we can all ask business leaders and policymakers what their vision is for the healthy development of all children and their families.

We can do this, all of us, together. We can shine a light on what’s wrong and we can make it right.

“I call on the citizens of this great country to say enough,” said James M. Hmurovich, President & CEO, Prevent Child Abuse America. “Enough silence. Enough shame. I also call on everyone to join us in this dialogue and provide a voice in your communities that says we are done looking the other way. We all play a role in prevention, now let’s come together and do something about it.”

###

ABOUT PREVENT CHILD ABUSE AMERICA
Prevent Child Abuse America, founded in 1972 in Chicago, works to ensure the healthy development of children nationwide. The organization promotes that vision through a network of chapters in 50 states and 530 Healthy Families America home visitation sites in 39 states, the Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and Canada. A major organizational focus is to advocate for the existence of a national policy framework and strategy for children and families while promoting evidence-based practices that prevent abuse and neglect from ever occurring. To learn more about what we’re doing to prevent child abuse and neglect and how you can help, please visit us here and here.

In Today's News: "Warren County [NJ] has 'secret problem' with child abuse, official says"

This article, published in Lehigh Valley Live, highlights the efforts of officials and organizations in Warren County, NJ to prevent child sexual abuse.  Warren County is one of three counties in New Jersey to adopt the Enough Abuse Campaign (Referred to here as the "Enough Abuse" Program). 

Rush Russell, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse - New Jersey makes an important point when he points out that there aren't many child sexual abuse prevention programs designed to highlight adult responsibility - it is a different mindset where the responsibility for preventing sexually abusive behaviors is not solely that of the children targeted by abusers. Rather, our program gives parents and other 'stakeholder' adults education on this issue and training on steps they can take - from specific messages and talking points for their kids to recognizing warning signs in abusers and victims.

Warren County has 'secret problem' with child abuse, official says

By Tommy Rowan
The Express-Times
December 16, 2012 at 6:00 AM
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/express-times/index.ssf/2012/12/warren_county_child_abuse_proj.html 


In the more than 30 years Karen Kubert has worked for Warren County, she hasn't seen the child abuse rate improve.

"It's kind of a secret problem," she told county freeholders last month. "People don't talk about it."

Now they will.

Warren County has adopted a pilot program called "Enough Abuse," becoming one of three counties in New Jersey to implement a comprehensive child abuse prevention strategy.

In 2011, Warren County ranked 10th highest in New Jersey in percentage of confirmed cases of abuse and neglect, according to the State Department of Children and Families. Phillipsburg led the county with 745 reports, but only 58, or 7 percent, were substantiated, according to state statistics.

Hunterdon County had the highest percentage confirmed cases of abuse in the state: 847 cases with 137, or 16 percent, confirmed.

Click here to see a copy of the report.

Rush L. Russell, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse-New Jersey, met with Warren County leaders and officials from Project Self-Sufficiency of Sussex County. They reported seeing an increase in abuse cases from media reports and conversations with public health leaders and service providers around the county.

"They felt like they were seeing a significant increase," Russell said. "They described a situation where they had seen an increase in the number of reports ... around child sexual abuse in the last few years and were concerned."

Project Self-Sufficiency, which serves Warren, Sussex and Morris counties, is replicating the Enough Abuse program that originally launched in Massachusetts about 10 years ago with funding from the Centers for Disease Control. The Ms. Foundation for Women and Prevent Child Abuse America awarded Project Self-Sufficiency a $25,000 grant for the program.

The Enough Abuse program provides free training sessions to parents and other adults on steps they can take to prevent child abuse. Russell said there aren't many programs in New Jersey designed to prevent child abuse that focus on adult responsibility.

"[We've got to] change the mindset in terms of parents being able to talk to their kids and be able to recognize some of the warning signs that are out there so they can intervene before this happens," Russell said.

"I think this topic has kind of been swept under the table because people aren't comfortable talking about it," he said.

Hackettstown ranked second in Warren County with 201 reports of abuse with 17, or 8 percent, confirmed. Washington, N.J. reported 181 cases of abuse with 23 confirmed cases, and Belvidere reported 181 instances of abuse with 23 substantiated cases.

Nine municipalities reported no substantiated cases of abuse. The state reports 142 confirmed cases of abuse countywide. The 2011 abuse and neglect statistics provided by the state do not include cases investigated by the state and passed onto law enforcement for investigation.

Kubert, director of the Warren County's Department of Human Services, said that the county needs change.

"(The rate) is extraordinarily high," she said. "And I think people that work in the agencies decided maybe we ought to take a look at what we're doing and come up with some best practices and see if we can develop standards and then everybody can work toward those standards."

Statewide, officials reported 91,680 cases of abuse in 2011 with 9,414 confirmed cases. Essex County recorded the highest number of confirmed cases at 1,167.

Russell said this is just "the tip of the iceberg at best" and that an estimated 80 percent of abuse cases are never reported to authorities. A Centers for Disease Control 2010 study found that 1 in 4 girls under the age of 18 and about 1 in 7 boys experienced an incident of child sexual abuse.

Kubert said the prevention strategy should include not only parents, but professionals, store clerks and neighbors as critical partners to reduce child abuse.

"It's trying to touch on anyone that will come into contact with the child," she said.