You're safety and protection from your abuser is the most important thing. So if you haven't told anyone, please do. If you have and they didn't believe you or didn't help you, tell someone else and keep telling until you find someone who will protect you. If you don't have someone you can trust, call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) or call the police (911).
What if you're not ready to tell? What if you're too scared? We understand and this on-line community will support you no matter where you are in the process. We encourage you to use the resources below to learn more about what child sexual abuse is, how it affects you and how you can stop it. Most importantly, we encourage you to participate in the forums so that you can talk to other teens who are going through the same thing and get support, inspiration and strength from survivors of all ages.
Resources
Read the following resource pages for referrals to organizations that can support you whether you’re in crisis mode, weathering the legal process or looking for long term support and treatment.
Crisis Hotlines and Shelters
National Resource and Referral Organizations
National Survivor Support and Treatment Organizations
National Prevention Organizations
Legal Resources
Awareness
As survivors, it's important for us to realize that we are not alone; that this epidemic has impacted millions of people. The links below will guide you to information about the prevalence and consequences of child sexual abuse as well as signs to look for in offenders. Reading about the signs is particularly important for survivors because abuse often leaves us with bad boundaries and sometimes we can't see the obvious, often resulting in re-victimization. This information is meant to awaken your consciousness so that you can begin to see the early grooming signs in offenders and can better protect yourself.
Download an Awareness Package
Child Sexual Abuse Statistics
How Does your Abuse Affect your Life? - A Self-Assessment
Education
30-40% of abuse is at the hands of a family member and another 50% by someone the child knows and trusts. Protecting ourselves from people we know, trust and love doesn't come naturally, it's a learned skill.
Although it's an adult's responsibility to protect you from sexual abuse, sometimes that just doesn't happen. It can be because the adults in your life are the perpetrators, or they were abused as a children themselves and simply can't see what's happening, or maybe their just naive. If you're in a position where the adults in your life don't know how to protect you, you can learn more about how to do it yourself and perhaps you can invite them to learn along with you. We want you to realize that you have more power than you may realize and the information below will provide you with concrete information that will build your strength and courage and return some of the power that your offender took from you. We encourage you to make a personal decision to get educated on how to protect yourself by taking action on all three of the items below.
Learn to Prevent, Recognize & React Responsibly to Child Sexual Abuse - Enroll in a Class
Subscribe to our Daily Prevention Tips
The Socially Skilled Child Molester by Carla van Dam - A Must Read for Every Adult!
Support
It was best said by Grace Hansen...
Time and time again we hear from survivors who have felt such a sense of relief when they finally broke their silence. For the first time in their lives they stopped pretending it didn't happen; for the first time in their lives they are living the truth; for the first time in their lives they are healing instead of simply surviving. We encourage you to break your silence - for some of you it may be the first time and we hope we can be there for you. For others you may have broken the silence long ago and we encourage you to continue and join in supporting those who are just getting started. Together we can all heal.
Survivor's Recommended Book List
Survivor Forum - Coming Soon
Join a Local Support Group
Subscribe to our Survivor's Newsletter
Natural Healing Tools
Grace Hansen Inspirational Picture
Reflections...Inspirational Song for Survivors
Get Involved
Our hearts pour out to those of you who have had to endure the devastating pain of child sexual abuse and hope that as you move through your healing process you will eventually arrive at a place where you can reach out and help others. As you know, there is power in numbers and if the 39 million survivors of child sexual abuse in America start talking and working together we will learn so much from our collective experiences that we WILL shift public consciousness from passive acceptance to the belief that “There is No Excuse for Sexual Abuse TM.” Please become an advocate and actively participating in ending this epidemic. There are several ways that you can help below.
Make a Donation
Volunteer your Time
Join your Local Community Coalition
Schedule an Awareness Presentation for your Community
Schedule a Prevention Class for your Community
