Your Organization
In recent years, our society has begun to understand the widespread nature of child sexual abuse. Studies estimate that one female child out of every three and one male child out of seven will be sexually abused before reaching eighteen years of age. Conservative estimates reveal nearly 60 million survivors of childhood sexual abuse living in America today.
Sexual abuse should never happen in organizations serving children, but children’s organizations have experienced the devastating impact. Families and lives have been shattered. Organizations have been sued, and the mission and reputation of some service organizations have been devastated.
Sexual abuse is not limited to any racial, ethnic, or socio-economic class. It is no respecter of any organizational creed. Sexual abuse can happen anywhere.
Sexual abusers looking for access to children will gravitate to activities and organizations where there are fewer protective measures in place. Many organizations have responded to this inevitable truth by implementing policies and training to reduce risk. Some, however, have done little, failing to recognize the risks of child sexual abuse, or laboring under the misconception "it won't happen here."
Standards of care embraced by public entities with children's programming have risen dramatically in the past 10 years. Savvy organizations have grown far more sophisticated in screening employees and volunteers, creating policies and procedures that protect children from abuse, and implementing effective oversight and program accountability. These measures protect staff members and volunteers from false allegations, while safeguarding children involved in programming.
As public awareness and standards of care rise, sexual predators are looking for access to children in places where protections are few.
In addition, "peer-to-peer" abuse, children abusing other children, has risen dramatically within the past decade. Criminal prosecutors report nearly 300 percent increase in reports of peer-to-peer abuse in the past five years. Children often repeat behavior they have experienced or see, so that even very young children may participate in sexual activity without understanding it. In one large metropolitan organization, a young boy who had been abused by a family member fondled a young girl on the facility playground, while staff members sat nearby.
Solutions Start with Awareness
Because the problem of sexual abuse is growing, legislative bodies are raising the bar. In Texas, for example, the "Youth Camp Act" became effective June 1, 2006. This Act requires "sexual abuse awareness training" from an approved provider for all camp staff and volunteers, covering specific topics, with an examination over the material. The Act's definition of "youth camp" includes any day camp, defined broadly so as to arguably include all organized children’s activities occurring within the state of Texas
Many who survey legislation related to child sexual abuse believe this to be the first wave of a legislative trend, with other states following suit with similar legislation. Because of proactive victim's groups who lobby lawmakers (such as SNAP), state laws will continue to be fluid in creating specific requirements for organizational policies, training, and record keeping. From a legal standpoint, this Act shapes the standard of care for children's activities throughout the state of Texas, and these standards will inevitably influence legislation in other states.
Unlike other personal injury law shaped by tort reform, legal requirements in sexual abuse cases are enlarging legal rights, rather than shrinking them. In most states, lawmakers are increasing statutes of limitation, (the legal time limits within which suit must be filed in civil suits), and many include language allowing lawsuits against organizations for sexual abuse when a victim understands that the damage he or she has suffered is related to the sexual abuse experienced. In other words, suit may be filed a very long time later, with no specific age limit or time cut-off.
What can you do?
The single most important step an organization can take? Train your people to understand the problem. The creation of safe environments for children's programming requires training. When staff members and volunteers have an awareness of the basic characteristics of a sexual abuser, the process by which an abuser picks and prepares a child for abuse, and key indicators of child sexual abuse, they are better equipped to recognize and prevent abuse in organizational programs.