More young people than you can imagine are dealing with the trauma of sexual abuse. One in three girls and one in six boys will have received some unwanted sexual attention before the age of 18.19 At least one child in 10 is traumatized to some degree as a result.

Despite the frequency of occurrence, sexual abuse is one of the most under reported crimes in our society. The abuse goes undisclosed because of fear of not being believed or protected, or of a negative response.

It is a myth that the offender is usually a stranger. In 85% of the cases, the offender is known to the victim and is someone who is in a position of trust or authority (parent, relative or friend of the family, clergyperson, teacher, leader). The abuse often takes place in the home and is usually repetitive.

Responses

Individual

The best way to respond to the adolescent whom you suspect may have been sexually abused is to listen carefully to what the adolescent says and to be attentive to his or her behavior. Show your concern. Ask if anything is the matter. But do not press for an answer. Let it be known that you are ready to listen at any time.

If a young person discloses sexual abuse, there are important steps to follow:

• Talk to the young person. Allow him/her to tell you what happened in their own words, without pressing for details. Detailed questioning is best handled by professionals.
• Listen to the young person. The young person needs to be believed, to know that it is not his/her fault, and that it was right to tell. Remain calm.
• The recipient of a disclosure must report this information to the police or the young person welfare agency in your area, depending on the age of the adolescent and the provincial jurisdiction. Following the disclosure, there may be protection and recovery issues. It is important to know who to contact before an incident occurs. Contact your diocesan office for your local policy.

Community

Be proactive in educational efforts towards prevention of abuse.

• Have established policies about sexual harassment abuse, or disclosure of abuse for all of youth ministries (i.e., congregations, camps, etc.).
• Identify people and resources in your community. Ask an informed person to prepare a list of resources and services in your community so that people can be given appropriate referrals.
• Parents, young people, ministry professionals need information and education about sexual abuse.
• A major task for the church is that of consciousness-raising around the issue. A report from the Lambeth Conference of 1988 on sexual abuse states that: "Sexual abuse is self-gratification by exploitation. It makes an impersonal object of the other person, abusing both the person and sexuality itself.... The Church must be clear about these violations of sexual intimacy ... aggressively proactive about its social policy and action, and be forthright in dealing with violations in its own community."

Prevention Education20

Prevention education accomplishes the following:

• It breaks through the individual and societal silence and denial which have long supported/tolerated sexual abuse.
• It increases access to community resources for treatment and intervention by young people.
• It decreases the level of public acceptance of sexual abuse.
• It increases the degree of understanding and awareness by adolescents of the issues related to sexual violence.

Prevention education is necessary on two levels: short-term and long-term. The focus of short-term education is the dissemination of factual information about rape, incest and child sexual abuse; and the development of skills to enable an individual to effectively avoid or resist an approach by an offender. Another necessary ingredient for education is information about what to do and who to contact for help if assaulted. Long-term education has to do with institutional and societal change directed at the root causes of sexual abuse. The focus is on an examination of the role that basic cultural attitudes and practices play in supporting and encouraging violence.