Children with Disabilities and Sexual Abuse

Children with Disabilities and Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse of children with disabilities is an alarming but greatly ignored issue. Children with disabilities--such as physical, mental, intellectual-- are 2.9 times more likely to be sexually abused than children without disabilities. Vulnerability to sexual abuse increases depending on the child's disability. For instance, children with intellectual and mental health disabilities are 4.6 times more likely to be sexually abused than children without disabilities. Of child sexual abuse victims, 11% report having a disability.

Certain factors have been identified as contributing to sexual abuse among children with disabilities:

Children with disabilities rely on others to care for them. Personal care for children with disabilities may be performed by a family members of care workers, which can blur the line of appropriate and inappropriate touches. All children are taught to listen to authorities, but this is especially enforced for children with disabilities.Children who are taught to always listen to adults maybe less likely to understand if an adult is hurting them and to disclose abuse.

Responding to sexual abuse with children with disabilities can be challenging. Child sexual abuse victims who have disabilities face barriers in seeking justice as well as in healing with help of professionals.

Prevention concerning sexual abuse of children with disabilities has fallen short. Few tactics for prevention specifically among this population have been created and disseminated.

Low levels of awareness of sexual abuse of children with disabilities. When child sexual abuse is mentioned, little attention is given to children with disabilities. Some people may think of the adult model of attraction and may deem children with disabilities as unattractive to perpetrators. In reality, perpetrators seek children who are vulnerable to victimization.

As advocates for all children, we need to learn to work to prevent child sexual abuse and remove barriers for children to heal. If you would like  more information, please contact the Jefferson Children's Advocacy Center at 504-364-3857.

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Sources:
Children's Bureau of HHS. (2013). Sexual Abuse of Children With Disabilities by Children's Bureau of HHS.

Harrell, S., Smith, N. (2013). Sexual Abuse of Children with Disabilities: A National Snapshot. VERA Institute of Justice. Retrieved from: http://www.vera.org/pubs/sexual-abuse-of-children-with-disabilities-national-snapshot

National PTSD Awareness Day

National Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day

June 27th is National Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Day. About half of all women and 60% of men have experienced trauma, and of those 20% and 8%, respectively, have developed PTSD. Sexual and physical abuse are traumatic events, and children who experience it may suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. 

Symptoms of PTSD

• constant thoughts about the event 

• nightmares about the event

• emotional triggers 

• refraining from thinking or talking about the trauma

• hypervigilance in order to protect oneself from trauma

What is PTSD? According to the NCPTSD, PTSD is "an anxiety disorder resulting from exposure to a single traumatic event or multiple traumatic events, such as sexual or physical assault, natural or man-made disaster, and war-related combat stress." 

The likelihood of a child developing PTSD after abuse depends on multiple factors such as the intensity of the trauma and amount of support they received after the event.

Children with PTSD can live positive, healthy lives and it is important they receive support. To learn more about resources for children who have experienced due to trauma from abuse offered in Jefferson Parish, please call the JCAC at 504-364-3857. 
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Please visit the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder's website:
http://www.nctsn.org/resources/public-awareness/national-ptsd-awareness-day#q2

To learn more about PTSD, follow this link to a booklet created by the Department of Veteran Affairs and the NCPTSD: 
http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/understanding_ptsd/booklet.pdf

Learn more about abuse related condition from the Adult Surviving Child Abuse webpage: http://www.asca.org.au/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=45

The Importance of CACs Explained by Bud Cramer

Bud Cramer Explains Importance of CACs

Bud Cramer makes a plea to Congress and the President to install funding for Children's Advocacy Centers across the country. Bud, a former Alabama Congressperson and District Attorney, was instrumental in the creation of the CAC model and eventually the National Children's Alliance. Mr. Cramer recounts his journey and stresses the importance of CACs in his piece, "Don't Turn Your Back on Victims of Child Abuse" on RollCall.com.

Here are some key points made by Mr. Cramer:

• 5 children die from abuse and neglect each day and every 13 seconds a child is abused
• More than 800 Children's Advocacy Centers exist in the US
• CACs reduce the cost of each investigation by an average of $1,000
• 280,000 children were served by CACs last year alone

Please check out Bud Cramer's article to learn how vital CACs are to helping child victims.

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Protecting Your Child on the Internet

Protecting Your Child on the Internet

Social media and the internet has forever changed the way we communicate. Through the internet, most specifically through Facebook and social media, we can update our friends in a matter of seconds about where we are, what we're doing, and we can even post our pictures. However, these freedoms create risks for children when their pictures are posted and when the internet is easily accessible to them.

In his blog on Channel4 News, author Geoff White states that tracking and stopping child sexual abuse photos by from surfacing is a daunting task for internet companies. However, he adds that the systems to track these photos are becoming more sophisticated.

Being aware of the risks of social media is important for parents.While Facebook offers privacy settings, this option may end up providing a false sense of security. First of all, any picture posted on the internet enters the public domain. Geoff White points out in his blog that pictures can easily be saved. Secondly, it's doubtful that we truly know all of our friends on Facebook, and that we can guarantee they are trustworthy.

Prevent Child Abuse (PCA) America created a "Staying Safe on the Internet: A Guide for Parents." Here are some ways to keep your kids safe online suggested by PCA:

• Learn how the internet works and what your kids can access
• Decide what material is off-limits (sexually explicit, hateful material, drugs and alcohol) and discuss these limits with your child
• Maintain open communication with your child about their activities online
• Explain to your child that not everything on the internet is true
• Tell your child that some people online may be lying about their identity and could be looking to hurt kids

The internet offers many great opportunities for children to learn, but keeping children safe needs to be our top priority.

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Bill to Require Restitution for Victims of Child Sex Trafficking

Bill to Require Restitution for Victims of Child Sex Trafficking

A bill will soon be presented to the Governor that will require perpetrators to pay restitution to their child victims of sex trafficking. Through this bill, Senate Bill 88 sponsored by Senator Sharon Weston Broom, the Exploited Children's Special Fund will be created. The fund will assist victims with necessities, such as education and housing. Other parts of the bill will work to ease the stigma placed on these children by creating a diversion program.

To learn more about this bill, please visit the link: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/06/bill_creating_fund_for_sex_tra.html

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