National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse
National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse
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NAASCA Highlights
EDITOR'S NOTE: Occasionally we bring you articles from local newspapers, web sites and other sources that constitute but a small percentage of the information available to those who are interested in the issues of child abuse and recovery from it.
We present articles such as this simply as a convenience to our readership ...
Here are a few recent stories and feature articles from a variety of sources that are related to the kinds of issues we cover on our web site. They'll represent a small percentage of the information available to us, the public, as we fight to provide meaningful recovery services and help for those who've suffered child abuse. We'll add to and update this page regularly.
What is the profile of a pedophile? An average pedophile will offend 200–400 times before being caught, if ever. The vast majority of offenders do not get caught, and they have no criminal records. According to the FBI, only one out of ten cases of child sexual abuse is reported to law enforcement.
Many of the statistics on these types of crimes are gleaned from incarcerated perpetrators, who have provided civil authorities with an inside view into the lives of pedophiles. This information has helped law enforcement authorities ascertain that only the tip of the iceberg is being disclosed and reported.
Pedophiles usually begin their pattern of behavior while still teens. If they are apprehended at a young age, intense rehabilitation has been found to have success. The vast majority of child molesters are male, and most sexual abusers were sexually abused as children.
The primary goal of all National Children's Alliance (NCA) children's advocacy centers is to ensure that children disclosing abuse are not further victimized by the intervention systems designed to protect them.
Child abuse and neglect are a major problem – and a major concern – for communities throughout the United States. We all know that the problem exists. The real question becomes “What happens to a child victim once he or she discloses?”
Often, agency personnel from law enforcement, child protective services, prosecution, medical, victim advocacy and mental health services will respond to child abuse cases. Traditionally, each agency or professional has a different role in the investigation and intervention process. Sometimes, their efforts to fulfill these roles will result in multiple interviews of the victim – and in re-traumatizing the victim they are seeking to assist.
In the past, there was no mechanism for coordinating these services. In 1985, however, a quiet revolution took place with the establishment of the first children's advocacy center in Huntsville, Alabama. Now, instead of the child victim navigating a difficult and confusing system of multiple, repetitive interviews, the system could be brought to the child. Children's advocacy centers (CACs) are modeled on the simple but powerful concept of coordination between community agencies and professionals involved in the intervention system.
My good friend, Scott, suggested I might be willing to place a petition from this international non profit 501(c)3 organization on our web site.
I'll go him one better. After taking a look at the "Stop the Silence" group, I thought it worth your while to introducing them, and their work, to you.
Founded in 2002 by Pamela Pine, PhD, MPH, an international health and development specialist, the mission is to expose and stop Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) and to help survivors heal worldwide, with the overarching goals to 1) promote healing of victims and survivors, and 2) celebrate the lives of those healed.
(VIDEO on Site) by Jon Wertheim, Special to CNN Editor's note: Jon Wertheim, a non-practicing attorney, is a senior writer at Sports Illustrated and contributes to CNN.
December 16, 2011
(CNN) -- The Penn State scandal was just starting to reach a rolling boil last month when the Department of Education announced that it would be investigating the school for a possible violation of the Clery Act. A quarter century ago, Jeanne Clery was asleep in her Lehigh University dorm room when she was raped and killed by an intruder.
The act came about after Clery's parents discovered that more than three dozen violent crimes had been committed on the campus over the three years before their daughter's murder.
NEW YORK -- On December 7th, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick announced that Syracuse Assistant Coach Bernie Fine could not be prosecuted on charges that he raped children because New York State's Statue of Limitations had elapsed. Although authorities found the allegations of multiple victims, "credible," once again survivors have been denied the opportunity to hold their abuser accountable. Mr. Fitzpatrick expressed regret that nothing more could be done saying to one of the victims, "I wish I had met you as a prosecutor in 2002. I wish I had met you as a prosecutor in the 1980s."
Since the Penn State scandal broke, there's not much that hasn't been covered on the subject of mandated child abuse reporting… except a much bigger, simmering scandal: Pennsylvania's governor and attorney general know where thousands more Jerry Sanduskys are, and they have failed to report them to law enforcement.
All parents want to protect their children. That's why we read baby books when we are pregnant. That's why we take babies to doctor's appointments monthly when they are infants, not just when we think something is wrong. That's why we screw TVs, dressers and bookcases to the wall and why we put up baby gates at the top of the stairs. Parents want to protect their children and they will do whatever it takes to keep them safe.
So why aren't parents protecting their children from child sexual abuse? It's not that parents aren't trying to protect their children, but most parents don't know enough about child sexual abuse and who abusers are to adequately protect their children. Here are some basic facts that all parents should be aware of:
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EDITOR'S NOTE: This was sent to us by our dedicated NAASCA volunteer, Carl Hart. As he suggests, although written in 2002 the info here is entirely pertinent to today's current news ..
by Andrew Vachss
Originally published in Parade , July 14, 2002
Andrew Vachss, a PARADE Contributing Editor, is a lawyer whose only clients are children. For more than three decades, he has observed the devastating effects of child abuse firsthand. In light of recent headlines, we asked him to share his unique perspective on a subject of grave importance to us all.
The shock waves caused by the recent exposures of so-called "pedophile priests" have reverberated throughout America. But beneath our anger and revulsion, a fundamental question pulsates: Are those who abuse their positions of trust to prey upon children—a category certainly not limited to those in religious orders—sick ... or are they evil?
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Penn State University is reassessing the role of its giant football program in the wake of a child sexual abuse scandal that has led to criminal charges against a former assistant football coach and the ouster of iconic head coach Joe Paterno.
In his first extensive interview since taking office last month, Penn State President Rodney Erickson told USA TODAY on Tuesday that he is seeking to transform the university's public image from a football school to a "world class research institution."
"We want that to be the front face of the university," said Erickson, who succeeded former president Graham Spanier, who was fired last month along with Paterno.
Its male abuse awareness week, and we'll be centering our celebration of it on a LIVE ONLOCATION broadcast from San Diego on Monday night (starts at a special time, 9pm EST, so 6pm PAC). The sold out event is a fundraiser for the host organization, the PLunaFoundation, where the primary interest is in helping young men ages 18 to 35 (Help4Guys.org). Donations collected are devoted to off-setting the cost of Internet-based counselling with therapists who interact with these men over SKYPE. Following the broadcast, I've been asked to appear as the Keynote speaker. I'm delighted to do this, and we look forward to future ON LOCATION shows and speaking engagements across the country.
To listen to the "on-demand" pod cast of the show, recorded LIVE on Dec 5th in San Diego, CLICK HERE
BROADCASTING Monday night LIVE - San Diego
9pm EST (8 CEN,
7 MTN, 6 PAC)
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Wendy J. Murphy
On Sex Terms The Need for Accurate Language In Penn State Coverage
by Wendy J. Murphy
November 29, 2011
The language in media reporting on the Penn State scandal has been almost universally inappropriate, both in print and television coverage. The media are pervasively using inappropriate language to describe the harm done to Jerry Sandusky's victims. As a former child abuse and sex crimes prosecutor, I've spent more than 20 years teaching, advocating and writing about sexual violence, victims' rights and the criminal justice system.
Along with my students, I run a program I developed ten years ago at New England Law/Boston entitled The Judicial Language Project.
Tyler Perry, himself a victim of sexual abuse, has written an open letter to an 11-year-old alleged victim of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky.
The writer-actor-producer penned the powerful piece for Newsweek.
In it, Perry applauds the boy's brave decision to speak out and calls him his “hero.”
“I want you to know you didn't do anything wrong,” writes Perry.
“It's not your fault. Please know that you were chosen by a monster. You didn't choose him. You didn't ask for it and, most of all, you didn't deserve it.”
He adds, “Do you know that at the young age of 11 you had more courage than all the adults who let you down?” Read the full text of Mr. Perry's letter inside:
It was easy to be humbled recently by Erin Merryn, the 26 year old child abuse survivor and advocate who began "a crusade to save the children of Illinois from the childhood I could not be saved from. It is a silent epidemic because we are not talking about it with children."
She's not willing to sit idly by ..
Illinois Senate Bill 2843, know as "Erin's Law," was passed unanimously Feb 14, 2011, and has spawned a set of similar laws in several other states.
The purpose of the law is to inform and protect students from sexual abuse, to mandate school districts implement and educate students on sexual abuse. School boards are instructed to adopt age appropriate curriculum on sexual abuse education to students grades pre-k through 5th grade.
by J.D. Heyman, Vickie Bane -
San Francisco
People Weekly -
March 24, 2003
Jake Goldenflame remembers exactly when he realized he couldn't escape his past. It was 1996, and he was working as a clerk at a hotel in Jerusalem, where backpackers would chat with him into the wee hours.
"A gal in her 20s was talking to me about her childhood, and all of a sudden her eyes filled with tears," says Goldenflame. "She said, 'How am I ever going to love my father? He molested me when I was young.' I just stopped. I knew wherever I went there would always be another girl like this. It was time to come back."
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Barbara Sinatra Children's Center 25th Anniversary Gala
Monday, November 14, 2011
Hyatt Grand Champions Resort, Villas and Spa
Indian Wells, CA -- Black Tie
Founded in 1986 by Barbara and Frank Sinatra, the nonprofit Barbara Sinatra Children's Center at Eisenhower provides counseling for victims of physical, sexual and emotional child abuse, regardless of a family's inability to pay.
Their mission is to break the generational cycle of abuse by focusing on prevention and education.
The Children's Center provides individual, group and family therapy along with special programs that address issues associated with children suffering the affects of child abuse and neglect, and who are at risk to be abused.
With worldwide name recognition, the out-patient, state-of-the art Barbara Sinatra Children's Center stands as a symbol of Barbara and Frank Sinatra's unwavering commitment to children in peril.
Approximately 86% of children counseled are from families below the national poverty line of $16,400 annual income for a family of four. Approximately 90% of their budget comes from the generosity of a caring, worldwide community, fundraising events and charitable organizations.
http://www.barbarasinatrachildrenscenter.org
At NAASCA we can easily recommend the work of Margie McKinnon, the founder of The Lamplighter Movement, an international movement for incest and child sexual abuse recovery. She's author of several books, including "REPAIR Your Life: A Program for Recovery from Incest & Childhood Sexual Abuse."
Margie appeared recently on one of our "Stop Child Abuse Now" Internet-based talk radio show, now available for on-demand listening.
Among our NAASCA family members is Patrick Dati of Chicago, one of the few victims to escape from notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy. The youngest in a family of Italian immigrants, he was also violently bullied by an older brother, experiencing repeated and severe trauma he'd not wish on anyone.
Married twice (and being the proud father of a 15 year old daughter), Patrick also has had to work out his own demons regarding his homosexuality, for which he was further ostracized from his family.
Mr. Dati now seeks opportunities to speak out against childhood traumas of all kinds, especially bullying, and was recently selected by the US Dept of Health & Human Services as one of 7 people in 2012 who will be their spokesmen.
Bio: Jill Starishevsky recently appeared on our "Stop Child Abuse Now" (SCAN) Internet-based talk radio show, now available for "on-demand" listening. She's a mother of three and a prosecutor of child abuse and sex crimes in New York City. In October 2006, Jill launched HowsMyNanny.com to support parents and their children. HowsMyNanny.com is the first online nanny reporting service that works to keep children safe by enabling parents to receive positive or negative feedback on their child's caregiver. Jill is also the author of "My Body Belongs to Me", a children's book intended to prevent child sexual abuse by teaching 3-8 year olds their bodies are private.
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Help is all around you .. but ..
There is a significant community of people who are engaged in providing help to adults who were traumatized in their youth. But .. getting the right kind of help, from the right person or group is important .. and sometimes daunting.
Here are a couple articles from a group we support (ASCA - Adult Survivors of Child Abuse) which explain the different kinds of therapy available to those still suffering, and discuss what to look for in a councilor and expect of recovery:
EDITOR'S NOTE: Jill Starishevsky is an Assistant District Attorney in New York City, where she has prosecuted hundreds of sex offenders and dedicated her career to seeking justice for victims of child abuse and sex crimes.
Outside the courtroom, Jill's fondness for writing led her to create www.ThePoemLady.com, where she pens personalized pieces. Her mission to protect children, along with her penchant for poetry, inspired My Body Belongs to Me, a children's book intended to prevent child sexual abuse by teaching 3-8 year olds their bodies are private.
A mother of three, Jill is also founder of www.HowsMyNanny.com, a service that enables parents to purchase a license plate for their child's stroller so the public can report positive or negative nanny observations.
Ms. Starishevsky appeared as a Special Guest on our "Stop Child Abuse Now" talk radio show in Sept, 2011. Here is the link to the "on-demand" version of her appearance:Stop Child Abuse Now - Episode 146
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Pennsylvania Sexual Violence
Benchbook
First Edition - 2007
The Benchbook on Crimes of Sexual Violence in Pennsylvania - DOWNLOAD HERE (pdf file) Understanding Sexual Violence | The Process of a Sex Offense Case | Life After Megan’s Law | Resources | MORE
This "Benchbook" is recommended by NAASCA volunteer Lynn Tolson for its definitions, explanations and information on sexual violence. It was first published in 2007 by the PCAR organization.
The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape is working to eliminate all forms of sexual violence and to advocate for the rights and needs of victims of sexual assault. Incepted in 1975, PCAR continues to use its voice to challenge public attitudes, raise public awareness, and effect critical changes in public policy, protocols, and responses to sexual violence.
To provide quality services to victims/survivors of sexual violence and their significant others, PCAR works in concert with its statewide network of 51 rape crisis centers serving all 67 counties in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The centers also work to create public awareness and prevention education within their communities.
In addition to providing technical assistance in a variety of areas, the role of PCAR is to oversee the rape crisis centers' contracts, monitor relevant legislation and public policy issues, provide library resources and educational trainings , and create public awareness campaigns.
You can help protect children by understanding how sexual predators go about preparing a child for abuse.
Called "grooming," it involves actions and behaviors that allow the perpetrator to build trust with the child and often the parents as well. Grooming typically takes place over time and prior to the actual abuse.
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Every child needs a hero ..
Every child needs a hero
from Carl Hart
Here are a couple of sites and links to "Heros" ..
The first link is an organization in Texas that works to raise awareness and funds for abused children. www.superherorun.com
The next link is a person who is going to be a guest on Oct. 13. Her work is all about teaching parents how to make their children "Off Limits" to perps. www.parentingsafechildren.com
Third is another future guest. Jill Starishevsky. She is an example of an actual hero. She is a NYC sex crimes prosecutor, who has taken her expierences and written a childrens book. www.mybodybelongstome.com
Since 1980, JDI has worked to end the sexual abuse of detainees, in the U.S. and around the world.
At the heart of JDI's mission lies a conviction that when the government removes someone's freedom, it takes on the absolute responsibility to protect that person's safety.
JDI works with policymakers, corrections leaders, advocates, and prisoner rape survivors to end this form of violence, once and for all. No matter what crime someone might have committed, rape is not part of the penalty.
Eckhart Tolle believes we create and maintain problems because they give us a sense of identity. Perhaps this explains why we often hold onto our pain far beyond its ability to serve us.
We replay past mistakes over and over again in our head, allowing feelings of shame and regret to shape our actions in the present. We cling to frustration and worry about the future, as if the act of fixation somehow gives us power. We hold stress in our minds and bodies, potentially creating serious health issues, and accept that state of tension as the norm.
Though it may sound simple, Ajahn Chah's advice speaks volumes:
“If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace.”
There will never be a time when life is simple. There will always be time to practice accepting that. Every moment is a chance to let go and feel peaceful. Here are 40 ideas to get started ..
August 15, 2011 -
by John Rossomando - The Daily Caller
If a small group of psychiatrists and other mental health professionals have their way at a conference this week, pedophiles themselves could play a role in removing pedophilia from the American Psychiatric Association's bible of mental illnesses — the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), set to undergo a significant revision by 2013. Critics warn that their success could lead to the decriminalization of pedophilia.
The August 17 Baltimore conference is sponsored by B4U-ACT, a group of pro-pedophile mental health professionals and sympathetic activists.
According to the conference brochure, the event will examine “ways in which minor-attracted persons [pedophiles] can be involved in the DSM 5 revision process” and how the popular perceptions of pedophiles can be reframed to encourage tolerance.
In a move that has shocked fashion onlookers, scantily-clad young girls wearing make-up and sporting voluminous up-dos are promoting a new range of lingerie that is targetted at girls as young as four years old.
Combining lingerie and lounge wear to form 'loungerie,' the Jours Après Lunes line for four to 12-year-olds features a range of panties, bras, camisoles and T-shirts with lace edges, ribboned bow detailing and nautical stripes.
The shots feature young girls in poses and styling that seem far too premature for their ages.
Wearing striped bras and panties, they play with make-up and jewellery, strings of pearls wrapped around their small frames.
Most of the photos are too risque to feature on MailOnline, the bare legs and stomachs of the girls deeming them inappropriate for publication.
from
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
August 3, 2011
WASHINGTON - Law enforcement officials announced today the unsealing of three indictments and one complaint charging a total of 72 individuals for their participation in an international criminal network dedicated to the sexual abuse of children and the creation and dissemination of graphic images and videos of child sexual afbuse throughout the world. The charges are the result of an extensive investigation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
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To Catch a Predator
There are alot of resources listed at the bottom of the linked page.
Perverted Justice
Helping to clean-up social networking pays off Since March 2007, volunteers on our official forums have been tasked with scouring Myspace and Facebook for sex offenders using those services. Many sex offenders get restrictions on their internet usage not to mention that both websites will remove sex offenders if they are reported to them.
Since 2007, we've been working on identifying sex offenders on Myspace and in 2008, we expanded that effort to Facebook. The results? Sadly staggering. At the end of 2010, the numbers break down as follows...
- Myspace:
10,746 known sex offenders deleted since 2007, and
- Facebook:
2,800 known sex offenders deleted since 2008
Michael Skinner .
July 14, 2011 -- Tonight's special guest Michael Skinner has many credits, among them musician, singer, songwriter .. and child abuse advocate. The 'Surviving Spirit' non profit (see: www.SurvivingSpirit.com) stresses "Healing the Heart Through the Creative Arts, Education & Advocacy."
Michael says, "I deal with complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression (major at times), severe back problems and mild Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). My health concerns are the result of childhood and teenaged years filled with the pain and the suffering by severe and protracted sexual, physical and emotional abuse from my parents and many of their friends." Later labeled 'mentally ill', he concludes, "Through the 'Surviving Spirit' [non profit] I hope to be a part in the change in addressing and eradicating the stigma and discrimination that so many survivors of trauma, abuse and mental health concerns face every day."
We'll feature several pieces of Michael's music on tonight's show (see: www.MSkinnerMusic.com - Hope, Healing, & Help for Trauma , Abuse, & Mental Health through music, resources, & advocacy).
A five-year study commissioned by the nation's Roman Catholic bishops to provide a definitive answer to what caused the church's sexual abuse crisis has concluded that neither the all-male celibate priesthood nor homosexuality were to blame.
SHORELINE, Wash. - A King County prosecutor is arguing that a Shoreline teenager due to be released from juvenile detention is a "violent sexual predator" and should be locked up for life.
Court filings reveal the offender, now 19, started molesting when he was just 4 years old. But the teen and his grandparents insist he's earned a second chance.
According to his hefty court file, Zachary Nelson has a string of sexual assaults - and was first arrested when he was just 9 years old.
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What's the "right" number?
800 .. 8,000 .. 80,000? To us, a single
sexually abused child is enough.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Here on the NAASCA web site we strive to provide the community with the best available information on the many issues that surround the epidemic of child abuse in America today. Using accurate and reliable statistics will always be a part of this.
On our talk radio shows I've often referred to the "100,000" figure, but have also frequently stressed that we seek the best information we can find, and update our web site accordingly.
We present the following information by way of contributing to a better understanding of the facts as they may be used (or abused?) by certain groups who wish to fan the flames of indignation that ANY underage children might be subjected to sex trafficking.
Frankly, if the number turns out to be 800 .. or 8,000 .. or 80,000, it won't impact the sincerity of our cause.
The hot-button issue of spanking recently returned to spotlight as a Texas mother, Rosalina Gonzales, was sentenced to five years of probation for spanking her two-year-old daughter.
When the paternal grandmother noticed the child’s butt was red, she had the child taken to a hospital. They found Gonzales’ daughter healthy, with no lasting injury. Still, they notified the Department of Family and Protective Services who remanded custody of Gonzales’ three children to the grandmother.
Nancy Richards is an adult survivor of childhood abuse. She is the author of "Heal and Forgive: Forgiveness in the Face of Abuse," "Heal and Forgive II: The Journey from Abuse and Estrangement to Reconciliation" and co-author of "101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2."
The soul cannot forgive until it is restored to wholeness and health. In the absence of love - how can one forgive? With an abundance of love, starting with one's self, forgiveness becomes a viable opportunity. - Nancy Richards
Over 1000 Change.org members have signed a petition launched this weekend by the anti-trafficking organization With More Than Purpose, telling Dilbert creator Scott Adams to publicly apologize for a recent blog post "insinuating that the act of a man raping a woman is a natural instinct."
Continuing with the observance of Juno's month and the collaboration of content with women this deep tour travels to a place that's difficult and unsettling. It's a subject no one enjoys but the depraved, but it's one that must be explored and expressed nevertheless. If women are to voice their interests in this blog this month, then no voice should speak louder than the defense of their girlhoods.
Small, naïve, and trusting they're vulnerable to the very worst of predators. Bears and wolves, sharks and gators prey on children with far less frequency than human beings themselves. It's a pathology that's as pervasive as it is puzzling. Regardless of race, region, or economic strata, pedophilia thrives in our society. It's as present today as it has been at any time. Though horribly socially self-destructive, it continues on and on, as if it were a normal and acceptable function of culture--or, at least, an unavoidable evil, the dark side of our sunny selves.
Children across the nation are suffering from a troubling, and growing, epidemic—child abuse. This examiner can speak first-hand to the horrors that are taking place across our nation and our world. I am a survivor of 11 years of incestual molestation at the hand of a distant family member. It is important for people to know that abuse can present itself in numerous different ways—no two cases are identical. A child could be emotionally, physically, sexually abused, or some combination of the three. Here in Waco, Texas we have great organizations to help deal with our local cases.
WARNING: Survivors of various forms of sexual violence (childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault, clergy sexual abuse, professional sexual misconduct and sexual harassment) often want to disclose their experiences, confront their perpetrators, and/or speak-out about their victimization. This is done in an attempt to try to help educate the public. Often the urge to share personal information about one self occurs during various stages of healing.
June 9, 2011 -- As Men's Health Week 2011 focuses on improving men's health using new technologies, Duncan Craig, Founder and Service Director for Survivors Manchester reports on the findings of his recent research into the use of online resources and the internet by adult male survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
In the absence of specific face to face services for men, male survivors of childhood sexual abuse are increasingly turning to specialist websites as a way to safely break the silence and begin their own unique healing process. That, at least, is the conclusion of the research I've been carrying out for my Masters degree at the University of Manchester.
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The Making of A Girl
Please take a moment to view the excellent video we posted to our Stop Child Abuse Now Facebook cause.
It's a slice-of-life look at the thoughts and feelings of a young girl who finds herself caught up in the sex trade.
The producer, Jillian Buckley, obviously knows how to present the subject.
Every year, more than 300,000 children become victims of sexual exploitation in the United States.
100,000 are prostituted annually.
The average age of entry into prostitution is 12 years old.
These are innocent children, turned out by adults who see them as an easy meal ticket, and it's the "adults" who sell them (and those who use them) who are 100% responsible, and should be held accountable.
Borrowing from the old ad tag line, I say, "A child is a terrible thing to waste."
Yet 39 million Americans have suffered from sexual child abuse, which is synonymous with a childhood destroyed.
Yours in service,
Bill Murray
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EDITOR'S NOTE: This is an article that appeared in the journal, "Psychiatric Services" entitled "Are Sex Offenders Treatable?" It's quite lengthy. To read
the entire article please click on the
link
we've provided inside.
Linda S. Grossman, Ph.D., Brian Martis, M.D. and Christopher G. Fichtner, M.D.
Recent legislation in several states providing for civil commitment and preventive detention of sexually violent persons has stirred legal, clinical, and public policy controversies. The mandate for psychiatric evaluation and treatment has an impact on public mental health systems, requiring clinicians and public administrators to direct attention to treatment options.
It is a common view that no treatments work for disorders involving sexual aggression. The authors examine this assumption by reviewing research on the effectiveness of treatment for adult male sex offenders.
MEDLINE was searched for key reviews and papers published during the years 1970 through 1998 that presented outcome data for sex offenders in treatment programs, individual case reports, and other clinically and theoretically important information.
To protect the public from sexual violence, the U.S. has enacted get-tough laws targeting released sex offenders. A new documentary, "No Brother of Mine" explores the impact of those laws. The program tells the story of four Minnesota sex offenders.
Ming Sen Shiue spent 30 years in prison for kidnapping missionary Mary Stauffer and her 8-year-old daughter, and killing a 6-year-old boy who witnessed the abduction.
A judge heard testimony on whether Shiue should remain locked up.
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"Angela Shelton is amazing. She
speaks for every abused person who
has lived through the same hell."
~ Rosie O'Donnell ~
In the uplifting and multiple award-winning documentary, Searching for Angela Shelton, filmmaker Angela Shelton drives around the United States surveying other Angela Sheltons.
She discovers that 24 out of the 40 Angela Sheltons she speaks to are survivors of rape, childhood sexual abuse and/or domestic violence. (The number jumped to 28 out of 40 when 4 more Angelas broke their silence after the movie was completed.)
On her journey the filmmaker meets an Angela Shelton who tracks sexual predators and lives in the same town as the filmmaker's father, who sexually abused her and her siblings for years.
In 1983, Dr. Roland Summit formulated a theory about how sexually abused children view their abuse and attempt to cope with it. He appropriately called this the Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome. He stated: “A child molested by a father and rejected by the mother is psychologically orphaned. . .
Rejection by adult caretakers increases the helplessness, hopelessness, isolation and self-blame that makes up most of the damaging aspects of child sexual victimization.” Dr. Summit described five components of this syndrome.
Sports Illustrated supermodel Jessica White has finally opened up about her tumultuous childhood and has revealed that she was subjected to violent sexual abuse when she was 14 years old.
Sean Penn's ex recently at her dinner party announced that she had started the charity to help sexually abused women because she had been through the nightmare herself, eonline reported.
"I was sexually abused as a child, and the work that my foundation does is not going to end sexual abuse, but it will definitely raise the awareness and give room for other women and girls to come forward and begin the healing process," White said.
White revealed to E! News that her brother-in-law was the one who molested her. "It was my brother-in-law, my sister's ex-husband. For the first time I realized I kept it a secret for so long, but why when people weren't protecting me?" she said. "At 17, I told my older sister and asked her not to say anything, to not tear my family apart."
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CREATING A PUBLICATION:
"Authentic Voices"
One of the pieces received so far, a poem
titled “My Name,” says: No
longer will I
wear the name of fear upon
my eyes.
North Dakotans who suffered sexual abuse or assault as children will speak out in poems and stories.
by Chuck Haga
Advocates for survivors of child abuse in North Dakota are asking them to “come out” by writing something from the heart — about the abuse, how they've dealt with it or anything they'd like to say about their lives — for a publication to be called “Authentic Voices.”
Even as celebrity activists such as Emma Thompson, Demi Moore, and Mira Sorvino raise awareness about commercial sex trafficking, survivor Rachel Lloyd publishes her memoir Girls Like Us, and the Senate introduces a new bipartisan bill for victim support, the problem proliferates across continents, in casinos, on streets, and directly into your mobile device. And, as Amy Fine Collins shows, human trafficking is much closer to home than you think; victims, younger than ever, are just as likely to be the homegrown American girl next door as illegally imported foreigners. Having gained access to victims, law-enforcement officials, and a convicted trafficker, Collins follows a major case that put to the test the federal government's Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
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The scene of the crime in Philadelphia,
back in the mid 1960s
by Tara Murtha - Philadelphia Weekly - May 15, 2011
Charles Stecker was only 4 years old when he saw his foster mother kill his 2-year-old brother Eddie, but he remembers it like it was yesterday.
“[She] put my brother to bed and he was crying profusely. [Eddie] was probably in pain because he was beat up,” says Stecker, who remembers lying in a bed a few feet away as his foster mother, Lillian Bedford, placed his brother in a crib, walked downstairs and started chatting on the telephone.
Stecker watched his foster mother return to the boys' room, agitated by what she described as Eddie's persistent “squalling,” the Philadelphia Inquirer later reported.
It's been nearly 50 years, but Anne Lee still remembers the dread she felt at her family's annual reunion in Florida. From the time she was 4, a trusted great-uncle began slipping into her bedroom and molesting her. "It was the beginning of years of abuse by someone I loved," says Lee. "I didn't know where to turn."
Overwhelmed with shame, Lee suffered in silence for decades. But when her daughter Ansley turned 4 in 1997, Lee realized it was time to confront the pain of her past. "It hit me like a ton of bricks," she says. "I knew I had to do something."
Quitting her marketing job, she raised $100,000 from friends and local businesses to launch Darkness to Light (darkness2light.org), a nonprofit devoted to preventing sexual abuse of children. Since 2000, some 250,000 people-teachers, police officers, coaches-nationwide have participated in the training program, which is also available online, learning how to recognize signs of abuse.
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"I am most interested in practicing law that is actually about people's everyday stories. Few areas of law really get at the core of a person's lived experiences; human trafficking law is one of those areas."
Launched in February 2011 by the Human Trafficking Clinic at Michigan Law School, the Human Trafficking Law Project (HTLP) is the first publicly available database of human trafficking cases within the United States. Through the HTLP, the Clinic hopes to strengthen anti-trafficking laws in the United States and to support government officials, law enforcement agencies, and practitioners who are working on behalf of human trafficking victims.
The human trafficking database is an ongoing project. The entries that are currently viewable on the website represent only those cases that, to date, have been approved following our thorough review process. We are continually reviewing and adding new cases to the database.
MaleSurvivor brought its national Dare to Dream program to Berkeley, California, last evening, Wednesday, March 23, and it was well received by all in attendance.
MaleSurvivor President and Dare to Dream panelist, Jorge Ramirez, PhD, stated "that as much as he was thrilled to be on the panel of survivors there to share the Dream, and the possibility of hope and healing, he was still shocked to hear from the local therapist community that there is only one therapist running men's survivor healing groups in San Francisco, and only two running them in the east SF Bay area.
I recently came across a powerful video on YouTube where Ashley Judd reveals a moving story about a 14-year-old daughter of a friend of hers who was recently forced into prostitution in Atlanta, Georgia.
"Who are these men who buy children for sex?" asks Judd. "They are our fathers, they are our brothers, our husbands, uncles, cousins, and friends...it is so common."
Memphis, Tenn. - Children being held captive and sold for sex, some call it modern day slavery and it's happening right here in Memphis and the Mid-South.
- TN lawmakers are calling on a full scale investigation of child sex trafficking.
- International child-sex traffic ring busted in Memphis in 2008.
- Sex with children is being advertised on common websites.
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Kid's Sites worth considering
These websites have been created for children and young people. They're full of great stuff including:
Games
How to report problems
Really useful information on having fun, staying in control and being safer online
Safety Game - from the FBI - an adventure game for kids to learn about online safety. It's a fun way to get kids thinking about online safety without having a lot of pages of tips to read.
Teachers - Register by visiting the Teacher Sign-Up page. Then click the Teachers link, read the instructions, and download the step-by-step guide.
Students - Click the Students link and read the instructions. Then visit the island for your grade level, complete all of the games, and click the surfboard to take the test.
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----------------------------------- a Global approach
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Virtual Global Taskforce
a Global approach
The Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) is made up of law enforcement agencies from around the world working together to fight child abuse online.
The aim of the VGT is to build an effective, international partnership of law enforcement agencies that helps to protect children from online child abuse.
It's sad but true: here in this country, people are being bought, sold, and smuggled like modern-day slaves. .
from FBI
They are trapped in lives of misery—often beaten, starved, and forced to work as prostitutes or to take grueling jobs as migrant, domestic, restaurant, or factory workers with little or no pay.
Human smuggling and human trafficking are two of the most heinous crimes that ICE investigates. In its worst manifestation, human trafficking is akin to modern-day slavery. Victims pay to be illegally transported into the United States only to find themselves in the thrall of the traffickers. They are forced into prostitution, involuntary labor and other forms of servitude to repay debts – often entry in the United States.
We are in a season traditionally devoted to good will among people and to the renewal of hope in the face of hard times. As we seek to realize these lofty ideals, one of our greatest challenges is overcoming bitterness and divisiveness. We all struggle with the wrongs others have done to us as well as those we have done to others, and we recoil at the vast extent of injury humankind seems determined to inflict on itself. How to keep hope alive? Without a constructive answer to toxic anger, addictive cycles of revenge, and immobilizing guilt, we seem doomed to despair about chances for renewal. One answer to this despair lies in forgiveness.
Human trafficking
is an issue
most
Americans
don't
understand as
being an
AMERICAN issue
The Pimps' Slaves- OPINION
by Nicholas D. Kristof,
New York Times
Reading between the sheets, the world of “Kristen” and Eliot Spitzer may seem relatively benign. She may have been abused as a child, and tangled with drugs and homelessness, but she was also a consenting adult who apparently kept half the cash that customers paid for her.
That's a dangerously unrepresentative glimpse of prostitution in America. Those who work with street prostitutes say that what they see daily is pimps who control teenage girls with violence and threats — plus an emotional bond — and then keep every penny the girl is paid.
Pimps and Slaves - OPINION
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Dana James Benecke
'A Child Is Missing' credited with safe return
A Sioux Falls man reported missing in late December was found over the weekend safe and sound.
The 'A Child is Missing' program in Sioux Falls is being credited with his safe return.
The program sends a recorded alert including a description of the missing child to thousands of phones surrounding the target zone as designated by police.
It's designed to get the message out in the wee hours of investigation before an Amber Alert even takes effect.
All the Sara Kruzans deserve a chance - EDITORIAL The woman killed her pimp as a teen but turned her life around in prison
What do you think?
Outgoing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger granted commutation to a young woman who has fought to turn her life around from its almost unbelievably bad beginning. Sara Kruzan had been abused physically and sexually for most of her young life before she was gang raped, then pushed into a life of prostitution at age 13 by the neighborhood pimp. When she was 16, she robbed and killed the man, a crime for which she was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Sixteen years later, Kruzan has earned an associate's degree through the local community college, has participated in many of the prison's rehabilitation programs and has shown a level of growth and maturity that makes her a promising candidate for rejoining society.
Child Sexual Abuse: 6 Stages of Grooming .
by Dr. Michael Welner,
The Oprah Winfrey Show
Grooming is the process by which an offender draws a victim into a sexual relationship and maintains that relationship in secrecy.
The shrouding of the relationship is an essential feature of grooming. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Welner explains the six stages that can lead up to sexual molestation.
The grooming sex offender works to separate the victim from peers, typically by engendering in the child a sense that they are special to the child and giving a kind of love to the child that the child needs.
Dr. Laura Berman: The Aftermath of Sexual Abuse .
from The Oprah Winfrey Show
Dr. Laura Berman is most often associated with her work as a sex therapist and as the author of books like The Book of Love . However, Dr. Berman has also worked extensively with child molesters and victims of sexual abuse.
Dr. Berman says she's learned that even after the abuse ends, a survivor may struggle for decades.
"It's not just the act itself," she says. "It's what happens to you after the act."
According to Dr. Berman, long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse may include may things.
The Boy Who Killed His Molester .
from The Oprah Winfrey Show
January 22, 2010, started off as a typical Friday for 16-year-old Daniel Kovarbasich. That morning, his father drove his mother to work, dropping off Daniel at the home of close family friend Duane Hurley, who was supposed to take Daniel to school.
Thirty minutes later, Duane was dead. Daniel had stabbed him 55 times.
Immediately after the stabbing, Daniel frantically called his father, Terry. Terry raced to meet Daniel and found him standing on the street, his hands caked in blood. Inside the house, the scene was gruesome.
Duane lay lifeless at the top of the stairs with blood splattered across his body, floor and walls.
4 Things You Need to Know About Child Molestation Stranger Danger Myth .
from The Oprah Winfrey Show
Over the decades, Oprah has done countless shows about child abuse and sexual predators…but this is a first.
In January 2010, Oprah sat down with four admitted child molesters and their therapist, Dawn Horwitz-Person, for a frank discussion about the cycle of abuse, graphic details of their crimes and how they methodically groomed their victims.
"I was raped at 9 and molested from the ages of 9 through 14, and because of that, I've always wanted to be able to sit down and talk to a group of child molesters and ask them why and how they do what they do," Oprah says. "It's the most honest conversation I've ever had with sex offenders."
Lasting Affects of Child Molestation .
from The Oprah Winfrey Show
It was one of the most unforgettable news stories of the '90s. On April 2, 1993, Ellie Nesler, a single mother seeking justice, shot and killed her son's accused rapist in the courtroom.
Some hailed Ellie as a hero...but that didn't help her case. She was charged with voluntary manslaughter and convicted. Her son, Willy, was sent to live with his aunt, while her daughter, Rebecca, went to live with her grandmother.
Two years later, Oprah first spoke with Ellie and her children.
At that time, Ellie was serving time in a California prison for killing Daniel Driver, the man who was on trial for molesting Willy and four other boys.
Surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse .
from The Oprah Winfrey Show
After Oprah aired her no-holds-barred conversation with four admitted child molesters in February 2010, letters, emails and phone calls started pouring in. "We were overwhelmed by the response to that interview," she says. "So many victims and parents—and even molesters—came forward."
Then, just a few weeks later, she continued raising awareness about childhood sexual abuse by touching on a subject that's rarely discussed—mothers who abuse. Gregg Milligan, a man who says he was raped by his mother when he was a boy, shared details of his horrific childhood. His story inspired even more victims to come forward.
"That is exactly the reason why I wanted to do these shows," Oprah says. "To get people to step out of the shame, to come forward, to tell somebody."
Surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse
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Teri Hatcher told Vanity Fair
she was abused as a child.
‘Housewives' star Hatcher reveals sex abuse Uncle was later arrested for molesting another girl
ASSOCIATED PRESS -
March 8, 2006
LOS ANGELES — Teri Hatcher, one of the stars of ABC's “Desperate Housewives,” says in the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair that her uncle sexually molested her 35 years ago.
The 41-year-old actress says she learned in 2002 that a 14-year-old victim of her uncle had committed suicide. Concerned that he would escape charges of molestation, Hatcher approached the prosecutors.
“This is something I've tried to hide my whole life,” Hatcher tells the magazine, which hits newsstands Friday with the actress on the cover.
Texas girl's 1996 disappearance led to Amber Alert
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Police have not given up on solving the 1996 murder of a 9-year-old girl who was snatched as she rode her bicycle in a case that led to the creation of a voluntary child abduction advisory system in all 50 states, known simply as the Amber Alert.
Thursday was the 15th anniversary of the disappearance of Amber Hagerman of Arlington.
Detective Ben Lopez, who was a patrolman at the time the girl was reported missing, says he thinks about the case every day and does not dismiss any possible clue.
"That's why any lead, no matter how small, is important. It may seem like nothing, but it could be the key to solving the case," said Lopez.
In a rare move, rival radio and television stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area joined forces to broadcast alerts in an effort to locate Amber, last seen alive on Jan. 13. 1996.
The Effects of Killing a Child Molester Discussed on 'Oprah'
by Jolie du Pre - OPINION
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is from Yahoo! TV. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of this web site. It was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Join the Yahoo! Contributor Network to start publishing your own articles.At the time of this posting there were 19 community replies (comments) to this article.
On "Best of Oprah: Exclusive: The 16-Year-Old Boy Who Killed His Molester," viewers visited the lives of two males who were molested by men who were later killed.
Lottery retailers will now get real-time Amber Alerts in Pa.
by Michael Sadowski
The 17-inch, flat-panel television screens at all lottery retailers across the state now will be able to display real-time Amber Alerts to customers, the state said Thursday.
Lottery officials said the system recently had been upgraded to show real-time updates, and displaying Amber Alerts in addition to lottery information seemed logical.
"It may not seem like an ideal match," said Kirstin Alvanitakis, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Lottery.
President Obama proclaimed January as
Slavery & Human Trafficking Prevention Month
January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. On December 22, 2010, President Barack Obama issued a Presidential Proclamation declaring January:
While the employees of DHS and members of the Blue Campaign work hard throughout the year to fight human trafficking, this month is an apt time to take note of what we have done and what we plan to do moving forward.
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