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Welcome to the MassKids Chronicle, our quarterly e-newsletter where we share the latest news about our Enough Abuse Campaign to prevent child sexual abuse, and how you can get involved and take action in your home or community. |
Pledge To Prevent® Campaign Launches to Generate Action to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse |
Enough Abuse and END1IN4 are inviting people everywhere to be a part of Pledge to Prevent® - a unique national public awareness and action campaign to prevent child sexual abuse. Launched on April 1 – Child Abuse Prevention Month – the campaign features outdoor billboards and digital displays now appearing throughout the month in Greater Boston, Los Angeles, Miami and in New York City’s iconic Times Square. Click here to read the Press Release.
In Greater Boston, static billboards are now posted in Lynn, Lowell, and Medford. Digital billboards are posted on Route 1 South near the Tobin Bridge and on Route 16 in Everett. 50 live digital ads are appearing throughout the underground MBTA "T" stations in Boston.
The Pledge To Prevent® website provides individuals and organizations an online opportunity to get educated about child sexual abuse and take concrete, practical actions to prevent it in their homes and communities.
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Pledge to Prevent® billboard in Times Square, NYC |
Pledge to Prevent® gives organizations and individuals everywhere a simple and concrete way to take specific, achievable actions to help prevent child sexual abuse in their homes and communities. Pledgers select from 25 different pledges to: build their knowledge about the issue as "Learners"; share their knowledge with others as “Prevention Influencers”; reach out to schools and youth organizations about prevention policies as “Safe Community Promoters”; and encourage lawmakers to introduce prevention legislation as “Movement Builders.”
After selecting a pledge, each pledger receives an email with links to online resources matched to their pledge so they can confidently carry it out.
Raise Awareness of Your Organization:
Become a "Pledge Partner"
Organizations that agree to promote the Pledge with their social media platforms and networks can become “Pledge Partners” and their logos will be included on the Pledge To Prevent® homepage with links provided so others can learn about their prevention work. Becoming an active member of this free, collaborative initiative is easy. Here’s how:
1. Email [email protected] that you want to be counted in as a “Pledge Partner” and include your organization’s logo and URL link.
2.Agree to promote the Pledge to Prevent® with your networks through newsletters, events, and on your social media platforms and encourage others to “Show Your Hand, Take a Stand!” to prevent child sexual abuse. Click here to access the social media toolkit.
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Share the Pledge to Prevent:
Become a "Pledge Ambassador"
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Individuals can also become “Pledge Ambassadors” by promoting Pledge to Prevent® with their social media followers. All are welcome to share the images in the social media toolkit.
The Pledge gives everyone a way to join the movement—to stop the hurt before it starts. Let’s join together as prevention advocates and broaden our collective impact to prevent child sexual abuse!
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The campaign in Greater Boston is partially supported by the Cummings Foundation, founded by Joyce and Bill Cummings in 1986, who for over a decade have provided generous support to over a thousand charities in Suffolk, Middlesex and Essex Counties. |
Advocating to "Pass the Prevention Package!" |
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MassKids continues to advocates for the passage of a package of bills to prevent child sexual abuse, through our Citizens to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse network. You can download this fact-sheet for the latest status of these prevention bills in Massachusetts. Visit our Citizens to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse page to learn more about the Prevention Package bills, and subscribe for future updates about their status, Public Hearings, etc. |
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MassKids’ “States Policy Exchange” Highlights National Report on Child Sexual Abuse in Schools |
The tenth meeting of the States Policy Exchange on Feb. 27th, 2024 featured Business Insider Senior Correspondent, Matt Drange, who shared the results of his 18-month investigation of child sexual abuse in U.S. public schools. His article: “An epidemic of sexual abuse in schools,” published on December 21, 2023, details shoddy investigations, quiet resignations, and a culture of secrecy that is protecting predators, not students.
Matt gathered data from the largest 10 school districts in each of the 50 states, including the number of teachers charged with sexual abuse, schools’ responses to these incidents, and how or if they are implementing the U.S. DOE’s requirement that schools not engage in the practice referred to as “passing the trash,” i.e. the aiding and abetting of a school employee engaged in sexual misconduct with a student to secure a position in another school.
Email us here to join the next States Policy Exchange Meeting, date TBA. Visit the States Policy Exchange page to view past meeting recordings and notes.
More about this resource…
The States Policy Exchange is a national bi-monthly online information-sharing and peer support platform for child advocates, survivors, legislators and others seeking to advocate for child sexual abuse prevention policies and laws in their states. It was launched by MassKids in 2022 as a follow up to a 3-Part Webinar Series for Policymakers and Advocates held in November 2021 that provided over 80 advocates from 25 states an opportunity to learn more about MassKids’ “A Call to Action for Policymakers and Advocates: Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Legislation in the States". This 112-page report, released nationally in June 2021, is the only resource in the U.S. that continuously tracks child sexual abuse prevention legislation in all 50 states.
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Research on Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Legislation in the U.S. Published in the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse |
Enough Abuse Offers Training to Schools to Address "Problematic Sexual Behaviors" of Children |
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Findings from national surveys of youth and their parents/caregivers (Gewirtz-Maden and Finkelhor, 2019, Child Maltreatment), document that in over 70% of child sexual abuse cases disclosed to researchers, the harm was caused by another child. |
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In response to growing requests from schools, youth organizations and parents for guidance on this issue, MassKids revised its longstanding curriculum, “Understanding and Responding to Sexual Behaviors of Children,” to include the latest about PSB or problematic sexual behaviors of children.
The interactive training increases the knowledge and skills of professionals to:
- Identify “developmentally expected” sexual behaviors in children;
- Distinguish them from behaviors that are concerning, and/or illegal;
- Respond to all sexual behaviors in ways that promote the healthy development of children and teens.
Scenarios are presented describing sexual behaviors of children and adolescents that participants might witness in day care settings, schools and other youth organizations. Small group discussions provide an opportunity to learn how to assess and respond to these behaviors in ways that model good communication, empathy and accountability. These responses can build protective factors in children and teens to reduce their risks to be victimized or to engage in PSB.
An initial group of 80 child welfare professionals that completed the training this fall gave it high marks, e.g. “Down to earth, engaging, real; appreciated chance to “practice” with scenarios and developmental levels. Excellent training!"
For information about how you can bring this in-person or virtual professional development training to your organization, contact [email protected].
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Help us ensure the right of every child to a safe childhood free from sexual abuse and exploitation. |
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