Protect your child from sexual abuse

Worried about protecting your child from sexual abuse ?

Let’s understand the risks around. Usually parents discuss about Stranger Danger with kids and they think that’s sufficient to protect kids from all dangers, including sexual abuse. In about 90 percent of child sexual abuse cases are committed by someone the child knows and trusts. It could be a parent, uncle, cousin, sibling or a neighbor. So, the theory of stranger danger doesn’t work here.
Reports suggests that 14,913 cases of child abuse were registered in the year 2015 under the POSCO act and 81% of them were committed by minors.

Indian parents feel shy about talking with their children about this issue and many wonder when to begin talking about this. The answer is that you can prevent such happenings by educating your kids about their bodies.
Here are few tips about educating kids to prevent sexual abuse:

Explain good touch and bad touch.

• • Begin with telling them what should be considered as a bad touch and they should not feel shy about sharing a bad touch experience with their parents.

Teach them correct terms for their body parts.

Teach your kids the correct terms for their body parts whenever they are grownup to understand. A child must be able to communicate with parents or someone else if someone touched inappropriately. The correct terms cut down the shame for sexuality. Can you imagine if someone mentions knees as “down there????

Tell them the parts that go under their undergarments – their penis, vulva, vagina, butts, breasts and nipples – are their ‘private parts”.

No one is supposed to touch their private parts except their parents, or a doctor in presence of parents. If anyone else touch their private parts, then it means a bad touch and should be reported to the parents.

Tell me if someone asks you to show your private parts.

You can prevent your kids from bullying and sexual abuse by making this a habit. Treat them like a friend so that they don’t need to hide anything from you. Just say “sometimes mom and dad help you clean when you poop or pee, but no one else can touch you there. And now that you are grown up you can wash yourself so only you can touch yourself. If anyone asks you to show or touch your private parts, just tell me about it???.

Ask your kid questions to to practice the possible situations:

• “What might you do in the event that somebody touched you on your _______?”

• “Why is it important to share?

• “Who might you tell?”

• ” What might you do if the individual said it was ‘our mystery’?”

• “What if they made a threat, like thy would hurt you or me?”

Make sure you have a healthy relationship with your kids and do follow the no secrets policy. Tell them that we ask someone before touching them, and if they say NO, then we stop. And lastly don’t leave your kids with anyone until you completely trust them.