Search Results for: blog sexual violence awareness month

Was Sexual Violence Awareness Month Successful at Families.com?

As Sexual Violence Awareness Month in Queensland draws to month’s end, so too does my incessant blogging on focused issues of a sexually abusive nature. Despite this culmination of focus, I urge you all to stay vigilant and conscious of predators and their sneaky ways of operating. You may recall in The Grooming Process of a Child Sexual Predator, I highlighted that “Darkness to Light suggests that an average serial perpetrator may abuse 400 children in a lifetime”. This equates to an extremely high number of children at risk of being abused in future. None of us can be lulled … Continue reading →

Disclosures of Sexual Assaults often lead to Dissociation

When somebody makes a public disclosure of a previously private abuse they are indeed extremely brave. A multitude of fears run through their mind and body: will I be believed, will I be blamed, will I be in trouble. These faulty cognitions are the result of societal constraints of allowing people to tell the truth and the powerful dynamic of control that predators use against a victim, even many, many years following the abuse. Following a disclosure, a victim frequently feels re-victimized and they are hypersensitive to other’s reactions. When support networks say nothing, it can leave the victim second-guessing … Continue reading →

School Project Information on Sexual Assault.

Parents requesting information on sexual assault for school projects often contact me to find out where to start. When I can, I meet with the students and try to match the information supplied to their topic criteria. However, sometimes just knowing where to start finding out information about sexual assault is the best way to attack projects. It is such a scary and personal topic that many parents state that they are a little embarrassed about seeking information publicly because someone may wrongly think that either themselves, or their child, has been abused. With this in mind, I have gathered … Continue reading →

I HAD NO IDEA: A Story from a Mother whose Child was Sexually Abused by a Family Member.

Thank you to Karina who has shared her personal and sad story in the most public way. Megan I have four children, three girls and one boy. My husband died suddenly and I moved towns to live with my mother and step father. My mother married my stepfather when I was in my early teens. I have five full blood sisters and a half brother to my mother’s second marriage. I would have said we were a great blended family, supportive of each other, until my daughter disclosed that my stepfather was sexually abusing her. My older girls had attended … Continue reading →

Topical Whensday: When will YOU wear a Colored Tee to Recognize Violence Against Women and Children.

Colored Tees help women affected by violence. Do you have one to donate and one to wear this Topical Wednesday in respect for women affected? The Clothes Line Project could use your donation. It is an international awareness-raising event where women affected by violence decorate a color-coded Tee shirt to be displayed as a barometer of those affected by intimate violence. Herstory: The idea for the Clothesline Project grew out of the Men’s Rape Prevention Project in Washington D.C. The men’s project claimed that while 58,000 soldiers died for the love of their country in the Vietnam war, 51,000 women … Continue reading →

Does your Daughter get Sexually Harassed at School?

Sexual harassment can take many different forms, however, all actions are based on the social construction of inherited male power and gender conditioning. Unsolicited and unreciprocated male sexual behavior, directed toward females, is often regarded by some as a normal male practice. Such learned functioning undermines the autonomy of women and girls. This cannot remain unchallenged because it is hurting our daughters and affecting their learning at school. Sexual harassment occurs in school settings too, between male teacher to female student, male student to female teacher and from student to student. Australian research has shown a dominant school culture where … Continue reading →

The Myths and Facts About Incest and Child Sexual Assault

October is Sexual Violence Awareness Month in Queensland, Australia. The theme of the month is “Stop Incest”. Before incest can be eradicated, we all need to have an understanding of the pervasive myths that prevent us from acknowledging the seriousness of this horrific crime that is perpetrated by family members or close family friends. MYTH – Children lie about incest. FACT– Both research and the experiences of those who work with sexually abused children have shown that children very rarely lie about incest. Statistics show that in 98% of cases children’s statements are found to be true (Dympna House Editorial/Writers … Continue reading →

Sexual Violence Awareness Month.

October means many things to different people, Fall, Halloween, Christmas shopping time, just to name a few. October in our house means that it is Sexual Violence Awareness Month – a busy month for me that ends with the International Reclaim the Night march on October 27. Each year, October’s awareness raising focuses on a particular aspect of sexual violence. This year the focus is “Stop incest.” I hear this message loud and clear. Turnaround defines incest as: Any overtly sexual act between people who are closely related or who perceive themselves as being closely related (as in relationship between … Continue reading →

Matt Damon Visits Zimbabwe Refugees

Actor Matt Damon is in South Africa to film a movie about Nelson Mandela, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman as Mandela. While there, he decided to visit the Zimbabwe border town of Musina to help raise awareness of the suffering going on in that country and of those that have fled it. (This image is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from the United States Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook.) Damon visited a Zimbabwean refugee camp and talked to some of the people there. He heard stories of the sexual violence occurring … Continue reading →

Attitudes Portray that Rapists Can’t Control Urges

A recent study of 2000 Victorian (Australia) adults supports that ALMOST two in five people think that men who rape do so because they can’t control their urges. The Violence Against Women Community Attitudes Project also discovered that one in four people believe domestic violence is acceptable as long as the perpetrator genuinely regrets it afterwards. Is it any wonder then that one in five women will experience intimate partner violence in their relationship? Chief Executive Officer of VicHealth, Dr Rob Moodie, sadly stated that the attitudinal figures showed negative attitudes that cause harm to women are still prevalent in … Continue reading →