Enough Abuse!

“One of the barriers to preventing child sexual abuse is helping parents learn the true facts about child sexual abuse and steps they can take that protect their children,” notes Program Coordinator Haley Ward. “The Enough Abuse curriculum teaches parents that the real risk to their child is someone they know and trust and who has access to their child in a one-on-one situation.” The program includes information about steps that perpetrators take to find possible victims, called “grooming” and how parents can intervene.

Project Self-Sufficiency rallies support to help prevent child sex abuse

One year after the launch of the Enough Abuse Campaign in New Jersey, awareness of the need to educate the community about the nature and scope of child sexual assault has grown exponentially announced lead agency Project Self-Sufficiency this week.

The Enough Abuse Campaign is a grassroots movement gaining momentum across the country. Developed in Massachusetts, the campaign has been adopted by New Jersey and Maryland and has recently been launched in New York and California.

“Community by community we are giving individuals the knowledge and skills to stop the silence around child sexual assault,” noted Deborah Berry-Toon, Project Self-Sufficiency’s executive director. “We are giving people the tools to raise their hands and say ‘enough.’”

Local residents are invited to help prevent child sexual assault by joining the Enough Abuse Campaign, a joint effort of Prevent Child Abuse New Jersey (PCA-NJ), Project Self-Sufficiency and the Sussex Warren Partnership to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse. The community-wide education effort aims to mobilize adults and communities to prevent child sexual assault by increasing awareness of the warning signs displayed by predators and as well as victims.

Training sessions are offered by certified trainers to middle and high school youth, their parents, teachers, administrators, coaches and other youth-serving professionals on how to recognize and prevent child sexual abuse.

According to PCA-NJ, one in four girls and one in six boys will fall victim to child sexual abuse before the age of 18 in the state of New Jersey. State data reports that 80% of child sexual abuse cases are never reported to authorities.

Additionally, studies continue to show that many parents believe the major risk of child sexual abuse involves strangers, when in fact, up to 90% of sexual predators are actually known to the victim.

“One of the barriers to preventing child sexual abuse is helping parents learn the true facts about child sexual abuse and steps they can take that protect their children,” notes Program Coordinator Haley Ward. “The Enough Abuse curriculum teaches parents that the real risk to their child is someone they know and trust and who has access to their child in a one-on-one situation.” The program includes information about steps that perpetrators take to find possible victims, called “grooming” and how parents can intervene.

Project Self-Sufficiency is the lead agency in the Sussex Warren Partnership to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse, an effort which brings together experts from a variety of civic, religious, healthcare and other organizations who share a commitment to preventing child sexual abuse.

“Project Self-Sufficiency is proud to be partnering with Prevent Child Abuse – New Jersey in this important effort to eliminate child sexual abuse in northwestern New Jersey,” commented Deborah Berry-Toon. “This educational outreach program builds on Project Self-Sufficiency’s history of assisting families with their goals of becoming stable and economically self-sufficient. Protecting our children from harm is an adult responsibility, and we are confident t hat the Enough Abuse Campaign will help to prevent child sexual abuse and result in safer, more stable families in our community.”

Enough Abuse training sessions are held regularly at Project Self-Sufficiency, and are offered frequently to civic organizations, schools, houses of worship, social service agencies and youth-serving organizations. To schedule a training, to find out more about the other programs and services offered at Project Self-Sufficiency, call 973-940-3500.

http://www.nj.com/suburbannews/index.ssf/2013/04/project_self-sufficiency_ralli.html