INFORMATION  IS  NOT ENOUGH

An instructive case  in point  is  sexual  abuse  of  the  children

(Girl  Child).  About  a  decade  ago  hundred  of  thousand substantiated cases   were  reported annually in the  world,  with that  number growing  by about  ten  percent (10%)  annually and while  estimate vary  widely,  most  expert   agree  that  between twenty  to  thirty  (20-30%)  of  girls  and  about  half  that  number of  boys  are  victim  of  some  form  of  sexual  abuse  by age seven(7yrs); the  figure  rise  or fall  depending   on how sexual abuse  is  defined,  among  other  factors.

There  is  no  single  profile  of  a  child  who  is  particularly velnerable to  sexual  abuse,  but  most  feel  unprotected, unable to  resist  on thier  own  and  isolate  by what  has  happened  to them.  With  this  risk  mind,  many  many  non  organisational foundation have  begun  to  offer  programs  to  prevent   sexual abuse.  Most  such  programs  are  tightly  focused  on basic information about  sexual  abuse,  teaching   children, for example,  to  know  the  difference  between “good  and  bad” touching,  alerting   them  to  the  dangers,  and  encouraging  them to  tell  an  adult  if  anything   inward  happens.   But  a  national survey  of  two  thousand  (2,000+)  plus-  children found  that

this  basic  training was  little  better  than  nothing  or actually worse  than  nothing;  in helping  the  girl  child  do  something, to prevent   being  victimised by this  potential  child  molester.

Worse  the  children who  had  only  such  basic  program  and who  had  subsequently become   victims   of  sexual  assaults were actually  half  as  likely  to  report  it  afterwards, due  to shame  and  social  segregation amongst  peers,  than  were children who  had  no  program  at  all.  By contrast children given  more  comprehensive  training-  including   related emotional  and  social  competence were  better  able  to  protect themselves  against  the  threat   of  being  victimised.  They  were far  likely  to  demand  to  be  left  aline,  to  tell  or fight  back,  to threaten to  tell,  and  to  actually  tell  if  something  bad  had happen.

THE LASTING  BENEFITS

Reporting   the  abuse  is  preventive in a  telling  sense  ; many child  molester victimize   hundred  of  children. Study of  child molester in thier  forties   found  that,  an  average,  they  had  one victim  a  month  since  thier  transfer years.

Children  who  had  Comprehensive  programs  were  three  times more  likely  than  those  in minimal programs  to  report  abuse. What  worked  so  well?  These  programs  were  not  one-shot topics,  but  were  given  at  different levels  several  times   over the  course   of  a  child’s  school  career, as  part  of  HEALTH Or SEX Education.   Parents   are  to  be  enlisted  to  deliver  these messages   comprehensively along  with  what  was  taught  in school(children whose  parents  did this  were  the  very  best  at resisting   threats  of  sexual  abuse.).

Beyond  that,  Social  and  Emotional competence  made  the difference. It  is  not  enough  for  a  child  simply  to  know  about “Good and  Bad”  touching.   Children  need  the  self  awareness to  know  we’re  a  situation  has  feels   wrong  or distressing long  before   the  touching   begins.  This  entails   not  just self- awareness, but  also  self-confidence and  assertiveness  to trust  to  trust  and  act  on those  feelings   of  distress,  even  in the  face  of  an  adult  who  may  be  trying  to  reassure her  that “it’s  okay”  and  then  a  child  needs   a  repetoire of  ways  to disrupt  what  is  about  to  happen.   For  these  reason,  the  better programs  teach  children to  stand  up for  what  they  want,  to assert  thier  rights  rather than  be  passive,  to  know  what  thier boundaries  are  and  defend  them.

BOUNDARIES  AND CONSENT IS  KEY

Inform  your  children about  safe  and  unsafe   touch  from people  they  know  as  well  as  strangers. In many  cultures  and society,  the  girl  child  is  denied  her  human  right  and sometimes, her  basic  needs.  She  is  at  increase risk  of sexual  abuse  and  exploitation.

GENDER  EQUALITY  IS  GOAL

In my opinion,  gender  equality  is  goal  to  controlling the  wide spread  of  the  girl  child  abuse,  gender  neutrality and  gender practice should  be  adopted  amongst  oneself,  it  is  a  way of thinking   that  help  in achieving the  goal.  The  male  child  and the  female   child  should  enjoy the  same  right,  resources, opportunity and  protection. It  does  not  require that  girls  and boys  or women  and  men  be  the  same,  or that  they  be treated  exactly  alike.  Achieving  gender  equality  also  requires eliminating harmful practices  against  the  girl  child,  including sex  trafficking, fermicide, sexual  violence   and  other oppressive tactics.

Attention  must  be  paid  to  emotional remedies, not  to  the exclusion of  other  answers, but  along  with  them…

What  would  an  education in the  emotion  look  like?

By Kizito  Tochukwu  Duru  Esq.