Negative Stories in the War on Child Sexual Abuse - Episode VI - Dramatic Escalation

Child Sex Abuse Reports Spike As Country Shelters In Place, Advocates Say

Katja Kircher Via Getty Images

By Alanna Vagianos 

Jacksonville Free Press

In March, for the first time, the majority of RAINN’s sexual abuse hotline users were minors.

For most Americans, sheltering in place is a sensible act of self-protection amid the coronavirus pandemic. But home can be a dangerous place for some ― like children in abusive situations.

Children face a heightened risk for sexual abuse during this time, child advocates told HuffPost. Scott Berkowitz, president of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, said RAINN has seen an uptick in minors reporting sexual violence in March, the month most shelter-in-place orders were implemented across the country.

“Last month, for the first time ever, a majority of RAINN’s sexual abuse hotline users were minors,” he told HuffPost.

Just over half of the people who called RAINN’s hotline last month who identified their age were under 18. Of those, 67% identified their perpetrator as a family member and, within that group, 79% said they were living with that perpetrator. RAINN’s victim service programs help on average about 25,000 people every month.

Berkowitz said the reason for the increased calls from minors could be that children can’t access the safety net of other adults they usually see outside the home.

“So many minors are now locked at home with their abuser, in the same house,” Berkowitz said. “The safety net that they had ― the parents and teachers and coaches that they would see every day who were likely the first people to notice signs of abuse ― children no longer have contact with those people right now.”

Berkowitz said he suspects the incidences of child sexual abuse will only increase as shelter-in-place orders continue.

An overwhelming majority of sexually abused children ― 93% ― are abused by someone they know and trust. While parents and other adults in the home can be the prime perpetrators, other children in the house ― such as older siblings or cousins ― can also be abusers, Dr. Janet Rosenzweig, executive director at the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), told HuffPost. Over a third of all child sexual abuse cases is committed by another minor.

“By now, people have all heard about the pedophiles that groom children and that’s a very true way to describe adult offenders. But with kids, it’s usually predicated by sexual arousal meeting poor impulse control, and an opportunity,” she said.

Unfortunately, Rosenzweig added, that opportunity comes as many families are confined to their residences: parents may be preoccupied with working from home and siblings or other older children are left to take care of younger ones.

Plagued by a troubling spike in reports, advocates face another problem: being able to contact the children in need. When a child sex abuse complaint is reported, a caseworker normally visits the home and interviews the child and others involved, Berkowitz said. Now, the options to help are significantly reduced, leaving many organizations only able to offer emotional support.

The “best of this worst-case scenario” is being able to contact clients virtually, Rosenzweig said. But this comes with some roadblocks.

In rural areas that don’t have the best broadband connection, children aren’t able to access the internet to get a hold of caseworkers and other educators (if they know to do this at all). If a child is able to access the internet or a phone connection, often they don’t have the privacy to disclose what’s happening. If they are able to find the privacy to report the abuse, the timeline for a caseworker to then physically get to that child before any repercussions take place is very short.

Even if everything goes as it should, Rosenzweig said, finding emergency shelter for the child amid a global pandemic is nearly impossible ― and depends on what child protection services are still available in that area.

APSAC officials, who support the professionals who serve the children and families victimized by this abuse, said they’ve seen a wide variation of child protection services state-by-state, making it harder to implement any effective guidelines right now. The next short-term goal is to ensure that more child protection services and resources are included in the next Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which likely won’t see congressional action for the next month or so, if at all.

“Additional resources to help vulnerable children and families is our number one ask for the next CARES bill,” Kiersten Stewart, the director of public policy and advocacy for Futures Without Violence, told HuffPost.

“There was a mistaken view that if we just handle job loss and health care that it would solve all of the potential child abuse problems and that’s just not true,” she said. “More still needs to be done and it needs to be done intentionally to support families and children.”

One thing everyone can do to help children right now, Rosenzweig said, is pick up the phone.

“If there is a child or parent you love, call those kids and spend a half an hour on the phone or FaceTime. Give the kids another grown-up to talk to,” she said. “If all of us do that, we’re going to give parents a break and we may find a kid out there that needs our help.”

All countries should be advertising on TV and internet phone numbers or web sites where children can report sexual abuse. We should also be putting out clips aimed at children to teach them good touch and bad touch at a young age. We should also be telling older kids that it is neither normal, nor healthy, nor legal to be having a sexual relationship with an adult or a family member.

Unlike businesses or political parties, children have no voice. They suffer in silence and they get little or no attention from governments. Child sexual abuse is an horrific atrocity at the best of times and is now much worse at the worst of times. Yet they continue to be largely ignored.

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Child-on-child sexual abuse - Just as bad as

adult-on-child sexual abuse

Wajahat Ali Malik

Pakistan Daily Times

Child-on-child sexual abuse is a form of child sexual abuse (CSA) in which a child is sexually abused by one or more other children and in which no adult is directly involved in sexually abusing the child. It also includes a child using physical force, threats, trickery or emotional manipulation to elicit cooperation, and non-coercive situations where a child proposes or starts a sexual act that the victimised child does not understand the nature of and simply goes along with, not comprehending its implications or what the consequences might be.

Children who are sexually victimised by other minors show largely the same problems as children victimised by adults, including anxiety disorders, depression, drug abuse, suicide, eating disorders, post- traumatic stress disorder, sleep disorders, and difficulty trusting peers in the context of relationships.

Under the international law, there is no uniform definition of child sexual abuse. The International Rescue Committee and UNICEF define CSA by compiling various definitions of CSA as “Child sexual abuse is any form of sexual activity with a child by an adult or by another child who has power over the child.”

It is possible for a child to be sexually abused by another child. CSA often involves body contact. This could include sexual kissing, touching, and oral, anal or vaginal sex. But all kinds of sexual abuse do not involve body contact. Forcing a child to witness rape and/or other acts of sexual violence, forcing children to watch pornography, or show their private parts, showing a child private parts (flashing), verbally pressuring a child for sex, and exploiting children as prostitutes or for pornography are also acts of sexual abuse.

It is, in my humble opinion, a grave injustice to those victims of child-on-child sexual abuse that the main provider of CSA statistics in the USA, do not include child-on-child statistics in their determination that 1-in-10 children are sexually abused.

I was told a few years ago by the person who generated the stats for one of those organizations, that they do not include them or the stats would go way up. Why, really, are they not included? As the writer of this article says, the consequences for the victims are nearly identical. 

There is an epidemic of child sexual abuse all over the world that makes the coronavirus seem rather minor. Not as many people die from child sexual abuse as COVID-19 right now, but many do die and it's has been a steady stream for centuries if not millennia. Most COVID-19 survivors recover fully or almost fully. Most CSA survivors don't ever recover fully. A few do with some considerable help, but that is only available to a very small minority. 

D2L.org (Darkness to Light) uses 1-10 stats including 1-in-7 girls and 1-in-15 boys.

RAINN uses stats that are even lower; 1-9 for girls, and 1-53 for boys.

According to the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), over a third of all child sexual abuse cases is committed by another minor. That would put the number of girls in the range of 1-5 or 1-6, which is still considerably higher than CDC and other reputable sites.

By leaving the child-on-child statistics out, they are not really reflecting the enormity of this issue and just how injurious it is to a generation of children. Or, for that matter, to every generation of children. 

Both sites restrict their numbers to the USA, which is almost certainly better than many countries where there is much poverty. But I wish they would tell the whole truth. I wish they would state emphatically that this is the biggest and worst atrocity in the history of mankind, not just a widespread problem.

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The sham of ‘rehabilitation’: Many child sex trafficking victims are pushed back into abuse

The ‘rehabilitation’ which happens at the shelter homes are often either ineffective, or just a sham.

TNM Staff Follow @thenewsminute

This article is a part of Meri Suno, a campaign to give voice to survivors of trafficking. The campaign is led by members of the Indian Leadership Forum Against Trafficking, a survivor-led organisation formed to combat trafficking. Visit ILFAT.org to know more. 

Priya (name changed) was just a child when she was trafficked for sex from her home in West Bengal. Her trafficker was a friendly neighbour who lived just next door. After years of abuse, Priya thought her woes would end when she was rescued. But as the assault of the pimps and customers ended, the assault of the system began. She had to run from pillar to post with an application for financial and livelihood support. Returning to her hometown was a terrifying thought for Priya, as going back home only meant a higher risk of being dragged back into sex work. Added to it was the stigma she would face from society.

All Priya wanted was some support from the government to find herself a home, and start afresh. But that didn’t happen. Soon, the organisation that was helping her found out that she had gone back into sex work – she was now working at a ‘massage parlour’.

Priya’s story is not an outlier, it is representative of the thousands of such cases where women, often trafficked into sex trade as children, are rescued from their traffickers only to end up returning to a life of abuse – because they just do not have any other option. The ‘rehabilitation’ which happens at the shelter homes are often either ineffective, or just a sham.

This happens all over the world. Sometimes it is a choice as the victims find it so much easier to prostitute themselves than to try and make an honest living.

The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA) states that a survivor of sex trafficking is to be placed in a protective home for rehabilitation with adequate services, in cases where reuniting them with the family is not in the woman’s best interests. Currently, in most cases, survivors are institutionalised in shelter homes. These are often heavily guarded and curb the freedom of the survivors.

Survivors of human trafficking, especially those trafficked at a young age are often conditioned into thinking that what happened to them is their fault. In addition to that, the society looks down upon survivors, especially those who were sexually exploited.

Moreover, being institutionalised means that survivors are unable to have agency over their own lives, and cannot take care of themselves.

There is more to this story on The News Minute.

NYPD Captain Under Fire for Saying Police ‘not too Worried’ About Date Rape Rise

© Reuters

A NYPD captain’s dismissive remarks about a 62.5 percent spike in reported rapes in 2016 has drawn a backlash. Peter Rose said the police were not worried about it because in most of the cases, the victims knew the perpetrators.

Rose commands the 94th Precinct, in the Greenpoint neighborhood in Brooklyn. In 2016, there were 13 rapes reports there, compared to eight in 2015, with three cases remaining unsolved. 

Rose described the situation to the news website DNAinfo ahead of a meeting with the community council as something the police are not concerned about.

“Some of them were Tinder, some of them were hookup sites, some of them were actually coworkers. It's not a trend that we're too worried about because out of 13, only two were true stranger rapes,” he said, adding that in many cases, victims would not cooperate with the investigation.

“Every rape should be investigated. I wish we could do more,” Rose added.

Later at the meeting on Wednesday, he reportedly made similar comments, implying that victims of rape by acquaintances are somehow less hurt than those targeted by strangers.

“They're not total abomination rapes where strangers are being dragged off the streets,” Rose said.

“If there's a true stranger rape, a random guy picks up a stranger off the street, those are the troubling ones. That person has, like, no moral standards,” he added.

Is he suggesting a date-rapist has moral standards? Seriously?

The apparent lack of compassion drew fire from public officials after the controversial comments went viral on Friday.

“The comments by the Captain do not represent the views of the mayor, our administration, or of an NYPD that is deeply committed to fighting for survivors of sexual assault,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio's office said in a statement.

“Rape is rape, in New York City and everywhere else. The crime merits no moral qualification and does not involve shades of criminality or degrees of danger. In New York City, rape is aggressively investigated and prosecuted blind to the nature of the underlying relationship, and with an absolute focus on obtaining justice for the survivor and safety for our neighborhoods,” the mayor’s press secretary, Eric Phillps, said.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner Stephen Davis said Rose's comments “did not properly explain the complexity of issues involved with investigating rape complaints.”

“Every report of rape is thoroughly investigated by specially trained detectives in the NYPD's Special Victims Unit. All complaints of rape and other types of sexual crimes are taken seriously whether they are committed by domestic partners, acquaintances, or strangers,” Davis told the media.

Some women’s rights groups called for Rose to be dismissed for his inappropriate comments.

US statistics on perpetrators of rape are in line with what the NYPD precinct reported. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, only about 14 percent of such crimes are committed by strangers. The victim support group RAINN - Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, on the other hand, says 28 percent of rapes are committed by total strangers.

So using the CDC's figures, that would mean the NYPD are not too concerned about 86% of all rapes in the city. Chief Rose's comments may not represent the official attitude of NY city or even the NYPD, but I fear it reflects the attitudes of far too many people in the NYPD. An anonymous survey might be very interesting.

My Time to Stand Against Sexual Abuse

By Tiffanie Drayton, Newsday

    Tiffanie Drayton, a graduate of New School University, is a freelance writer focused on social
     justice issues. Photo Credit: Tiffanie Drayton

The version of “locker room banter” that too many girls and women know is the intimate sharing of stories of sexual assault and abuse by men who view them as nothing more than things to be grabbed, as Donald Trump suggested in the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape.

More than a decade ago in middle school, I found myself surrounded by a group of young girls. They all leaned in, quiet with interest. We swapped stories about boys and “firsts” — the young girls’ version of “locker room banter.”

My tear-stained face told them what I had to say was important. Devastating, even. My then-best friend, Jennifer, was there. She pressed her hand against my back, like a mother soothing a child.

I revealed my secret between sobs. The girls remained silent. Moments later, I was called into an office and questioned by my teacher and a counselor. I felt naked and vulnerable. They said that the accusations were serious and they were going to call my mother.

“No, that never happened to me,” I responded in a panic.

I was too ashamed to tell the truth — that I had suffered sexual abuse at the hands of someone I was supposed to trust, a family friend, someone I thought of as an older brother. So I lied.

“Jennifer was the one who was abused,” I declared, my eyes cast downward.

I never forgave myself for choosing the safety of a lie over the discomfort of the truth. I never forgave myself for selling out my friend — who weeks earlier had revealed to me that when she was a child a relative raped her — to protect myself from confronting that I, too, was sexually abused. Now 26, I finally have found the courage to no longer hide.

The version of “locker room banter” that too many girls and women know is the intimate sharing of stories of sexual assault and abuse by men who view them as nothing more than things to be grabbed, as Donald Trump suggested in the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape.

He should know that every two minutes an American is sexually assaulted, and that every eight minutes that victim is a child, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, RAINN, an advocacy group. Just 6 out of every 1,000 perpetrators end up in prison.

Jennifer’s relative is among the perpetrators who never served a day in prison. After she was dragged through a legal process that lasted years and tore apart her family, she was told there was not enough evidence to prosecute him. It was her word against his. My abuser also never suffered any consequences for his actions. A couple of years ago, I contacted him via Facebook. I needed closure and understanding about what happened all those years ago. Was it my fault?

“You liked it,” he wrote. “You wanted to.”

For years, I’ve been consumed by guilt and shame. Shame over whether I liked it? Fears that my abuse was my fault. Shame over the decision I made that forced a friend to publicly relive the trauma of her abuse. I wished I had never said what I did that day to a group of girls. I thought our conversation was private, not that it would be revealed to the world. But the hard truth is that sexual assault and abuse should never be kept private.

“We need to recover from our shock and our depression,” Michelle Obama said Thursday of the appropriate reaction to Trump’s derogatory comments about women. She’s right.

For sexual abuse survivors, the road to recovery is long, and often we have little or no support in our journey. As I did to my best friend, the world frequently turns its back on survivors. It brands, blames or attempts to discredit us, because confronting the truth that sexual abuse is widespread and must be addressed is far harder to do than hiding behind the excuses that “boys will be boys,” “men will be men” or “she wanted it.”

Today, I finally take a stand, not only for my best friend, but for myself and all of the girls and women who cannot because they are still recovering from shock, guilt and shame.

I hope America will stand with us as well. A man who is so cavalier about the abuse of women is not fit to be our president. Survivors on their road to recovery need to be assured of at least that much.

Tiffanie Drayton, a graduate of New School University, is a freelance writer focused on social justice issues.

"Why Can't You Just Get Over It?"

What Every Survivor of Sexual Trauma Needs to Know

Jennifer Rollin 
Mental Health Therapist, Social Worker, Body Image Activist and Wellness Enthusiast
Huff Post

"I feel like what happened was my fault. Like I did something to deserve it," is a statement that I have heard frequently in my work as a therapist who specializes in helping survivors of trauma. I have spoken with numerous survivors whose families and friends asked them, "Why can't you just get over it?"

Awareness of the impact that trauma can have on an individual is spreading, however there is still a lot of misinformation and stigma that many survivors experience. Although everyone copes with trauma and the healing process differently, the following are some universal truths that I wish every survivor of sexual trauma could hear.

1. What happened to you was not your fault.

I know you may have heard this before, but that it might be difficult for you to believe. You may think to yourself, "If only I hadn't gone to that party, this wouldn't have happened" or "I didn't tell anyone what was happening, so I must have wanted it."

First off, I want you to know that this is a common reaction to sexual trauma. Your mind wants to make sense of a situation that ultimately was out of your control. Therefore, many people wrongly believe that they must have been responsible for what happened to them.

When someone is sexually abused, the only person who is to blame is the perpetrator. You did the best that you could, with the coping skills that you had at the time. No matter what party you went to, if you had a drink, if you didn't fight the person off, if you were dating the person, if you were aroused and regardless of any other circumstance -- it was not your fault. You were not responsible for this and you certainly did not deserve it.

Think about what you would tell a friend who shared with you the same experience. It is unlikely that you would tell your friend that what happened to them was their fault. You deserve to give yourself the same compassion that you would give to a friend or loved one who went through a trauma. If you are struggling with intense feelings of shame and guilt following trauma, it could be helpful to consider reaching out to a therapist-preferably one who specializes in trauma.

2. Your responses are normal reactions to an abnormal experience.

Some people who experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress feel that they are "going crazy." When someone experiences trauma his or her body naturally goes into "fight or flight" mode. This reaction to a stressor in the environment, developed as it was evolutionarily advantageous and protected our ancestors from imminent danger.

According to The National Institute of Mental Health,"This fight-or-flight response is a healthy reaction meant to protect a person from harm. But in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this reaction is changed or damaged. People who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened even when they're no longer in danger."

Not everyone who experiences trauma will go on to develop PTSD. However, if you are experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress or have received a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, it is important to note that you are not "crazy."

First off, I find it offensive to label any individual as "crazy." Secondly, you experienced something that no one should have to go through. Your body and mind may be trying desperately to make sense of what happened. No matter what symptoms you may be experiencing as a result of your trauma, you are certainly not alone in experiencing them.

3. Healing and recovery is possible.

There are numerous individuals whose lives serve as examples that healing and recovery following sexual trauma is possible. Erin Merryn is one woman who is an amazing example of resilience following sexual trauma. Erin is a mother, wife, author, activist, and Glamour Magazine 2012 Woman of the Year, who has been featured in numerous media outlets. She is also a survivor of childhood sexual assault and went on to create"Erin's Law," which "requires that all public schools in each state implement a prevention-oriented child sexual abuse program." In her book entitled, Living for Today: From Incest and Molestation to Fearlessness and Forgiveness, Merryn stated,

As I faced each tragedy in my life, I learned to reach into the depth of my soul for strength and determination. Through this healing process, I discovered perseverance and resilience. I could not go into the past and use White-Out to erase any events; instead, I had to find a way to use my pain to help me heal and grow. I had to stare darkness in the face and accept that I could not change the past, but I could build a better future.

If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence, it's not your fault. You are not alone. Help is available 24/7 through the National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE and online.rainn.org, y en español: rainn.org/es.

Major NGOs Partner with TLC to Raise Profile of Child Sex Abuse in US

Darkness to Light, Rainn partner with TLC to raise 

child sex abuse awareness

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Charleston-based Darkness to Light is partnering with the TLC television network and the group RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) in a national campaign to prevent child sexual abuse.

The three organizations announced their joint efforts in a press release Thursday. Their goal is to raise awareness and create a national dialogue on child sexual abuse. They hope to increase awareness and educate the public on ways to prevent it.

The announcement comes alongside TLC’s move Thursday to cancel one of its top-rated shows, 19 Kids and Counting, two months after one of the show’s stars, Josh Duggar, admitted to molesting young girls when he was a teenager.

"We cannot emphasize enough how impressive it is that TLC is using their platform to reach millions of Americans in addressing the stigma that child sexual abuse is," Kendall Sherry with Darkness to Light said Friday. "The partnership between TLC, RAINN and Darkness to Light has the potential to change on a national scale how people think about, talk about and react to child sexual abuse."

Dr. Lyndon Haviland, Board of Directors member, interim president and CEO for Darkness to Light said D2L is looking forward to partnering with TLC "to bring child sexual abuse out of secrecy and into the forefront."

Haviland called child sexual abuse a "public health crisis ... affecting (more than) one in 10 children nationwide."

"We applaud (TLC) for the courage to begin a national dialogue about what all adults can do to protect children,” Haviland said.

Darkness to Light (D2L) is a nonprofit organization founded in Charleston in 2000. D2L’s full statement on the new partnership is available here.

TLC said the following in its statement:

“Over these past weeks, TLC has consulted regularly with leading victims' rights and advocacy organizations in the U.S., including RAINN and Darkness to Light, to discuss how to use this moment to address the issue and make a positive impact. Unfortunately, child sexual abuse is not an isolated issue; it affects many children and families around the world. To that end, we are partnering with both organizations on a multi-platform campaign to raise awareness and educate parents and families about the issue.

TLC said in the release it is in the process of producing a one-hour documentary on the issue of child sexual abuse that will feature members of the Duggar family and others that have been affected by abuse. See TLC’s full statement here.

Katherine Hull Fliflet, Vice President of Communications for RAINN, said the following in that organization’s statement Thursday:

“We are pleased to be partnering with TLC to fight child sexual abuse, and appreciate its efforts to spur a national dialogue about this issue. … As this multi-platform campaign moves ahead, we look forward to working closely with TLC and our partners at Darkness to Light. … Together, we believe we can help families that have been affected by this terrible crime and make sure that parents and others have the knowledge and tools they need to help keep kids safe.”

RAINN is the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization, providing support to survivors through various means. Its full statement on the partnership can be found here.