Kiddipedia
It’s a topic rarely spoken about. A topic many of us parents don’t know how to approach, or what language to use. However, it’s also a topic we need to talk to our children about. Here’s why…
Globally, around 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys aged 0-18 experience some form of sexual abuse, physical or emotional. The stats tell us that 65-70% of these victims fall under 10-years of age.
When we think about sexual abuse we think of the ‘stranger’ in the park, around the corner however the reality is very different. In most cases, over 90%, the perpetrators are known to the family and the child. What shocked me most when I first interviewed on this topic was how perpetrators enter the family and not only groom the child, they also groom parents in order to build trust.
We caught up with Sandra Ifrah, a Child & Adolescent Psychologist, to ask her about age-appropriate conversations we can have with our children around this topic, what to look out for and what you can do to protect your children.
You can watch our video with Sandra here: (EMBED)
If you have children 8+ years of age this video is a real eye-opener and worth watching. (EMBED)
Sandra recommends these resources for any parents who are keen to learn more for their children:
Some Parts are Not for Sharing – Julie K. Federico (For ages 6 months and up)
• It’s MY Body – Lory Freeman (For ages 3-8)
• My Body is Private – Linda Walvoord Girard (For ages 6-11)
• The Right Touch – Sandy Kleven (For ages 3-8)
• A secret safe to tell – Naomi Hunter (For ages 6-11)
• Some Secrets Should Never Be Kept – Jayneen Sanders (For ages 3-8)
• The Trouble with Secrets – Karen Johnsen (For ages 3-8)
• Your Body Belongs to You – Cornelia Spelman (For ages 3-6)
• My Body Belongs to Me – Jill Starishevsky (For ages 3-8)
Books for Parents on Body Safety Education
• My Body Rules – Caryn Andersen & Melanie Howe
• The Parent’s Helping Hand Book – Holly-ann Martin
• Protect your child from sexual abuse: A Parent’s Guide – Janie Hart-Rossi
• Body safety education – Jayneen Sanders
Books for Children on Healing
• A Very Touching Book for Little People and for Big People – Jan Hindman & Tom
Novak (For ages 6-12)
• I Can’t Talk About It – Doris Sanford (For ages 4-8)
• Something Happened and I’m Scared to Tell – Patricia Kehoe, Ph.D. (For ages 3-7)
• Something Is Wrong at My House – Diane Davis (For ages 3-12)
• Go Away, Mr Worrythoughts – Nicky Johnston (For ages 3-8)
• Happy thoughts are everywhere – Nicky Johnston (For ages 3-8)
Resources on Sexual Education
• It’s Not the Stork – Robbie H. Harris (For ages 4 and up)
• Where Did I Come From? – Peter Mayle ( For ages 4-8)
• It’s Perfectly Normal – Robbie H. Harris (For ages 11-15)
• Let’s talk about sex – Robbie H. Harris (For ages 10 and up)
• Who has what – Robbie H. Harris (For ages 3 – 6)
***
Written by Sarah Morrissey and Melissa Wakefield, presenters of the Human+Kind Raising Good Humans PodCast and Video Series. For more information from these videos and links to experts please visit https://www.facebook.com/HumanKindRaisingGoodHumans/
You may also like to read:
