Talking with your child can be one sure way of preventing your child from being sexually abused. I used the term with and not to for a reason. Talking to your child causes them to be all ears while you talk about the uncomfortable and yet taboo topic of safe body touch in an age appropriate way. Talking with your child causes them to go beyond being all ears but gives them a voice to talk with you about the uncomfortable topic. I believe that this is practice in giving them a voice IF the unthinkable was to happen or sadly IF the unthinkable is happening. All too many times abusers practice silencing their victims.
Intentional about who is around your child and their intentions of being around or involved with your child. Unfortunately that includes friends and family members because statistically speaking 95% of the time the abuse will come from people they know and trust. Be intentional about watching the interactions of people involved in your child’s life. Be even more intentional about how your child acts and responds being around certain individuals as these can be tell-tale signs that something is going on. However always keep in mind that while there are abusers out there, there are also plenty of people who have your child’s best interests at heart as well.
Promising to protect your child on a daily basis gives them the assurance that IF someone was abusing them sexually they can come to you. Sexual abusers are manipulators and will say and do anything to instill fear to prevent children from coming forward. Unfortunately you can’t always prevent abuse but following these tips and others can assure that if it did happen to your child they will come forward and you will be able to prevent long-term abuse.
Supporting your child if they were to tell you about any incident or person that made them feel uncomfortable regarding their body parts. All too often children are not believed especially if they mention a family member. 98% of sexual abuse cases have proven to be true. If your child does happen to mention an incident or incidents support, reassure them that they did nothing wrong, praise them for coming forward and lastly allow them to know that you will take action to prevent it from transpiring again.
