Friday, June 29, 2007
Editorial: Something doesn't seem right. Now what?
The state Department of Health promotes a hotline to help prevent child sexual abuse.
From the RoundTable blog
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Virginians have grown accustomed to the two-prong approach in combating child sexual abuse: First, teach children to tell a trusted adult if someone's touches make them uncomfortable; and second, severely punish those who molest children.
But there is a third prong, one the Virginia Department of Health is promoting, that may prove even more helpful than interactive maps that point out where pedophiles live.
State officials a few years ago asked: What could be done to actually prevent child sexual assaults?
One answer: Provide an anonymous help line that would allow people to feel comfortable asking questions.
The department linked with the national organization "Stop It Now!" and began a pilot program two years ago in Richmond. It has now spread across the commonwealth. The ads and billboards with the tag line, "It doesn't feel right when I see them together," play up that "gut feeling" when people sense something isn't right.
The hotline offers an alternative to waving off that feeling with possibly disastrous results or reporting a vague suspicion to authorities and risking an unwarranted allegation tearing a family apart.
With 90 percent of child abuse assaults in Virginia perpetrated by family members or trusted acquaintances, there is a need for people to have access to counselors and professional advice without feeling pressured to identify themselves.
Stop It Now! offers a forum for people to feel they can safely sort out their suspicions.
Callers to 1-888-PREVENT can find out what is normal and abnormal behavior, whether their suspicions about someone they know or even concerns about themselves warrant intervention, where they can turn for help, and what they can expect to happen if child protective services or law enforcement becomes involved.
So far, between eight and 10 Virginians call the hotline each month. Surely, though, there is a greater need since one out of four women and one out of five men in Virginia were victims of child sexual assault. The challenge is to make Virginians aware that there is somewhere to turn for answers.
