Entries in Child Abuse Awareness (7)
Eshanya Walls Speaks Out
Posted by
Joanna M. Doane
in Child Abuse Awareness, Featured Survivors
Putting her life back together
Local resident concerned about how up-to-date state's posting is.By PABLO ROS
Tribune Staff Writer
 Eshanya Walls is concerned about the accuracy of the state sex and violent offenders registry. Her son was the victim of sexual abuse several years ago. Tribune Photo/JIM RIDER |
Ever since the man who molested her child was released from prison last year, Eshanya Walls has had concerns about the accuracy of the Indiana sex and violent offenders registry.
The South Bend resident and mother of three said she searched for his name in the registry three months after he was freed and didn't find it.
The registry, maintained by the Indiana Sheriffs' Association, is accessible online and contains files with the names, addresses and other personal information, charges and photos of convicted sex and violent offenders in the state.
Walls, who then lived in Howard County, knew the man's whereabouts. He was the son of a baby-sitter she once hired.
But the missing file raised an important question.
"If his name is not on there," she asked, "how many are missing?"
Two months later, Walls again did not find his name in the state registry. She said other names she found in county registries also were missing from the state registry.
So she called the Indiana Sheriffs' Association for some answers.
Mike Eslinger, the ISA's executive director, explained in a phone interview recently that the state registry is regularly updated with files from Indiana sheriffs and said inaccuracies in the registry may result from "a computer glitch somewhere along the line."
He added he did not know of any such inaccuracies.
Eslinger said a new state registry approved last month will be compiled differently. Rather than have sheriffs send the files, he explained, the new registry will be updated directly on the Web.
The new Indiana sex and violent offenders registry will be launched in January, he said.
Walls said she thinks the new registry is a step in the right direction, although more needs to be done.
"I think it's an excellent idea, but I don't think it'll bring the stats down," she said.
Based on data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice, Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, a nonprofit organization, estimates that every two-and-a-half minutes, somewhere in the United States, someone is sexually assaulted.
Walls' son, whose identity she asked not be released because of the sensitive nature of the subject, was sexually molested when he was 6.
"He was scared to tell me for four years," she said.
When he told his mother two years ago, at age 11, she was overwhelmed.
"It set me over the limit," said Walls, who was already suffering from depression. "I got really sick from it."
His molester was the teenage son of a woman Walls had paid to watch over her children.
Walls said her son now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, a consequence of his abuse, she was told by a psychologist. The seventh-grader sees a school counselor every day and meets for group counseling two hours a week.
"It's unbelievable," Walls said of the harm "just that one person" caused to her family.
Walls said an accurate state registry is a necessary tool.
Eslinger said the new registry will help keep the public better informed of the whereabouts of sex offenders.
"There'll be a mapping part of it," he explained, "where you can click on the area where you live." A map of your neighborhood will show where sex and violent offenders live.
Also, offenders will be required to register before they leave prison, Eslinger said, rather than seven days later.
But Walls said more drastic measures are required. She is trying to form a nonprofit organization to raise money for Global Positioning System tracking devices, which she hopes sex offenders will someday be required to wear.
The GPS system is a satellite navigating system that uses miniaturized receivers to find the position of an object. Today they are used in cars, boats and planes, among other things.
Walls also said she is trying to form a support group for families who are in a similar situation.
"I want to take a negative thing that happened and turn it into a positive thing so I can reach out to other parents," she said.
Staff writer Pablo Ros:
(574) 235-6555
Our Privacy Policy and Direct Notice To Parents
News coverage and editorial content provided by
the South Bend Tribune unless otherwise specified.
Copyright © 1994-2007 South Bend Tribune
Leave a Comment
Child Sexual Abuse Goes Vastly Under Reported
By Joanna M. Doane
March 14, 2007
INTRODUCTION
Sexual abuse of a child is defined as inappropriately exposing or subjecting a child to sexual contact, activity, or behavior, and occurs when a child is used for gratification of adult sexual desires. Within the past decade research has shown that there is a marked under estimation in the prevalence of child sexual abuse, which currently is reported by 20 percent of women and 5 to 10 percent of men worldwide. According to University of Oregon psychologist, Jennifer Freyd, an authority on trauma, although official reports of child sex abuse have declined somewhat in the U.S. during the last 10 years, close to 90 percent of sexual abuse cases are never reported to authorities. Despite such findings, the public’s awareness of childhood sexual abuse within the U. S. has still greatly improved within the past three decades. Today, interest in the problem of child sexual abuse is greater than ever before. Psychiatrist, Jon R. Conte, Ph.D., points out that l andmark documents such as S. Butler’s “Conspiracy of Silence: The Trauma of Incest” (1978), and F. Rush’s “The Best Kept Secret: Sexual abuse of children” (1980) were followed by countless stories about sexual abuse in the print and electronic media, by an explosion in research and other scholarship in the social and behavioral sciences, and by increased attention from health, mental health, social service, and legal professionals. If such efforts to educate, study, and speak out about childhood sexual abuse continue by abuse prevention organizations, researchers, and child advocates then this upward spiral of awareness should hopefully likewise continue.
Although there are many possible causes for the under reporting of child sexual abuse within the U. S., this report will focus on the following three: (1) the under educating of America's youth about reporting experienced abuse; (2) continual public ignorance and reluctance in identifying and reporting suspected abuse; and (3) greater public understanding of the societal consequences child sexual abuse equally imposes on all of the U. S. as a whole.
DATA SECTION
Most often children are not adequately educated in age-appropriate language about the importance of reporting experienced sexual abuse. Often children will keep abuse a secret because they don't have the language to describe it, or because they don't think anyone will believe them. Compounding this problem is the closeness that most perpetrators have with their victims. Surveys suggest that 13 percent of women were forced into sexual contact with an adult male during their childhood, many of them by their fathers or step fathers (Hill, 2003). To keep the abuse a secret, perpetrators often blame and threaten their victims, at times telling them that if they do tell they will not be believed. In response to this problem, educators and physicians have launched early detection programs that aim to 1) educate all children about child sexual abuse; 2) teach them skills for avoiding or escaping abusive situations; 3) encourage children to tell another adult if they are abused; and 4) assure them that abuse is never their fault (Godenzi, 2001). Educating minors about the emotional and mental dangers of not reporting experienced abuse may also help in combating this problem.
Similarly, the general public often remains uneducated in regards of identifying and reporting the sexual abuse of children. Unfortunately, in comparison to physical abuse, sexual abuse is very hard to detect.. Though rare, there are however known physical symptoms that include constant vaginal and anal bleeding, difficulty walking or sitting, and contracted venereal disease. More commonly children will exhibit behavioral signs such as sexual acting out with other children, exhibiting fear of a certain person, or wearing many layers of clothing despite warm or humid weather (see Figure 1-B).
While a few symptoms are generally not cause for alarm, if a child begins to show several of these signs and symptoms there may be reason for further investigation. However, even with reasonable suspicion, some adults fear that a suspected abuser may find out that they made the report, or they may fear other unforeseen consequences. It is for this reason that the option to report suspected abuse anonymously has been made available in the United States. Today, anyone who has reason to believe that a child may be a victim of sexual abuse can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD in order to receive help in reporting suspected abuse (See Figure 1-C).
The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline has received more than 2 million calls since it began in 1982. These calls come from concerned individuals who suspect that child abuse may be occurring, as well as from children at risk for abuse and distressed parents seeking crisis intervention. Serving the United States, it’s territories, and Canada, the Hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with professional crisis counselors who, through interpreters, can provide assistance in 140 languages. All calls are anonymous and confidential (Childhelp USA).
Lastly, the the average American citizen too often views child sexual abuse as being very rare, and it is easy to stereotype perpetrators as being "creepy men" who spend their time visibly staring at small children in playgrounds. These misconceptions contribute to the amount of cases of child sexual abuse that continually go unreported through out the U.S. each year. The public, understandably, doesn't want to believe that perpetrators could ever be someone they know, love, or trust. However, a child is still most likely to be sexually abused by a family member, or someone they know, increasing the likelihood of delayed disclosure and possible memory failure (Conte). Child sexual abuse is not rare or discriminantive. In the face of this denial, the fact remains that child sexual abuse appears to be equally common across all socioeconomic classes, races, and ethnic groups (McCaghy, 2006). A 1996 report from the Department of Justice estimated rape and sexual abuse of children to cost $1.5 billion in medical expenses and $23 billion total each year to U.S. victims (Miller). It is hard to fathom that a problem which is reportedly so economically draining to it's victims could still be labeled as rare.
CONCLUSION
In closing, the impact of child sexual abuse upon America clearly doesn't stop once the act of the abuse does. There is now an established body of knowledge linking a history of child sexual abuse with higher rates in adult life of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, substance abuse disorders, eating disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (Mullen). If the misconstrued belief among abused children, in that they are alone, changes then their suffering might not be so easily clouded in secrecy. The early prevention programs mentioned earlier do seem to increase the liklihood that children will report abuse, reduce their tendency to blame themselves for it, and increase their feelings of efficacy (Finkelhore, D. et al.). Childhelp USA has announced one such prevention program, Good-Touch/Bad Touch (GTBT), a nation-wide, research-based curriculum for children in Pre-K through 6th grades. On-going revisions keep this prevention program up to date and relevant and, so far, GTBD has published research in Behavior Therapy, which has validated it as effective prevention by researchers. To date, this research has been replicated twice with the same positive results (Childhelp USA). The greater a child's understanding is in that that they must always tell a trusted adult, no matter who their abuser may be, then the lesser the chances are that so many perpetrators will go unpunished. Furthermore, the greater the public understanding of the societal consequences that child sexual abuse equally imposes, the greater motivation will be to identify and report it to the proper authorities. In the end, with enough knowledge, understanding, and awareness this war against silence can be won.
Work Cited
Butler, S. Conspiracy of silence: The trauma of incest. San Francisco: New Glide Publications, 1978.
Childhelp USA, Prevention of Abuse. March 5, 2007 <http://www.childhelp.org>.
Conte, Ph.D., Jon R. “ Child Sexual Abuse: Awareness and Backlash” The Future of Children Vol. 4 • No. 2 – Summer/Fall 1994
Freyd, J.J., Putnam, F.W., Lyon, T.D., Becker-Blease, K. A., Cheit, R.E., Siegel, N.B., & Pezdek, K. (2005). The science of child sexual abuse. Science, pg 501.
Hill, J. (2003). Childhood trauma and depression. Current Opinions in Psychiatry., 16(1), 3 - 6
McCaghy, C. H. Capron, T. A., Jamieson, J. D. & Carey, S. H. (2006). Deviant Behavior: Crime, conflict, and interest groups. (7th Ed.). New York: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon
Miller, T. R., Cohen, M.A., B.Wiersema. Victim Costs and Consequences: A New Look (U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, 1996).
Mullen, Paul E., and Fleming, Jillian. “ Long-term Effects of Child Sexual Abuse”. Child Abuse Prevention. Issue 9, Autumn 1998
Newton, C. J. MA. "Child Abuse: An Overview" Counseling & Mental Health Journal (April, 2001).
Rush, F. The best kept secret: Sexual abuse of children. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1980
I hope that this will cause people to reconsider that the average child abuser is NOT the "strange looking, old man wandering the playgrounds", but that a child abuser can be anywhere, and anyone. They can be your neighbor, co-worker, boss, best friend, husband, sibling, college professor, and yes...your state representative.
-- Joanna M. Doane
Rep. Mark Foley of Florida quit after sexually explicit e-mails and instant messages to young male pages were revealed. He wrote: "Do I make you a little horny?"
As chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, Foley introduced legislation in July to protect children from exploitation by adults over the Internet.
Reynolds, R-N.Y., was told about e-mails sent by Rep. Mark Foley and is now defending himself from Democratic accusations that he did too little. Foley, R-Fla., resigned Friday after ABC News questioned him about the e-mails to a former congressional page and about sexually suggestive instant messages to other pages.
"The improper communications between Congressman Mark Foley and former House Congressional pages is unacceptable and abhorrent. It is an obscene breach of trust," Hastert, R-Ill., Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said in a written statement Saturday evening. "His immediate resignation must now be followed by the full weight of the criminal justice system."
Foley's letter of resignation to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush read: "I hereby resign as the representative of the 16th Congressional District of Florida, effective today."
The House leaders said it is their duty to ensure House pages are safe. They said they are creating a toll-free hot line for pages and their families to call to confidentially report any incidents, and will consider adopting new rules on communications between lawmakers and pages.
The boy who received the e-mails was 16 in the summer of 2005 when he worked in Congress as a page. After the boy returned to his Louisiana home, the congressman e-mailed him. The teenager thought the messages were inappropriate, particularly one in which Foley asked the teen to send a picture of himself.
The teen's family contacted their congressman, Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., who then discussed the problem with Reynolds sometime this spring.
Rep. Rodney Alexander of Louisiana said after he learned of e-mails to his page by Foley 10-11 months ago, he contacted the teen's parents and House leaders.
"Rodney Alexander brought to my attention the existence of e-mails between Mark Foley and a former page of Mr. Alexander's," Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a written statement Saturday.
"Despite the fact that I had not seen the e-mails in question, and Mr. Alexander told me that the parents didn't want the matter pursued, I told the speaker of the conversation Mr. Alexander had with me," Reynolds said.
Hastert said he does not remember talking to Reynolds about the Foley e-mails, but did not dispute Reynolds' account.
"While the speaker does not explicitly recall this conversation, he has no reason to dispute Congressman Reynolds' recollection that he reported to him on the problem and its resolution," Hastert's aides said in a preliminary report on the matter issued Saturday.
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert said Friday that Foley had "done the right thing" by resigning and said the safety of the page system would be investigated.
The report includes a lengthy timeline detailing when they first learned of the worrisome e-mail in the fall of 2005, after a staffer for Alexander told Hastert's office the family wanted Foley to stop contacting their son. Alexander's staffer did not share the contents of the e-mail, saying it was not sexual but "over-friendly," the report says.
Hastert's aides referred the matter to the Clerk of the House, and "mindful of the sensitivity of the parent's wishes to protect their child's privacy and believing that they had promptly reported what they knew to the proper authorities," they did not discuss it with others in Hastert's office - including, apparently, their boss.
After the issue was referred to the clerk, it was passed along to the congressman who oversees the page program, Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill.
Shimkus has said he learned about the e-mail exchange in late 2005 and took immediate action to investigate.
He said Foley told him it was an innocent exchange. Shimkus said he warned Foley not to have any more contact with the teenager and to respect other pages.
Democrats charged Reynolds did far too little and said more digging should be done.
"Congressman Reynolds' inaction in the face of such a serious situation is very troubling, and raises important questions about whether there was an attempt to cover up criminal activity involving a minor to keep it from coming to light before Election Day," said Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Karen Finney.
New York Democrats hoping to unseat Reynolds blasted the congressman, saying they call into question the Republican's values.
"Mr. Reynolds knew about these allegedly inappropriate e-mails from a fellow congressman to a minor for months and didn't lift a finger," said Blake Zeff, a spokesman for the state Democrats.
9/30/2006 19:14:24 EDT
I would love to push for this type of center where I live, such as the one described in the article below. But, I don’t trust anyone beyond the average citizen living here would join me? I contacted children services a few times throughout my teenage years for a boyfriend who was being abused, and for a a little boy who I circumstantially found out who was. Nothing ever came of either case. My boyfriend continued to be beaten my his mother, and the little boy suffered the same abuse from his mother. Our city has seriously deteriorated since the economy has been going steadily down hill for several years now.
I know there’s already little state funding as it is. I think though that I’ll at least try and write a letter to our county representative. I know his main office is right down town. I’ve e-mailed him for other things. But, I’ll have to look further for more information on the advocacy centers that already exist. Maybe if you’re reading this, you could write your own state or county representative about it? I’m actually somewhat surprised that there’s already 600 centers, nationally, scattered across the U.S.. I wouldn’t be shocked, however, if each of them are struggling on some level due to the cuts in our countries state funding. But still yet, “where there’s a will, there’s a way”.
— Joanna Doane
“The Journey Within”
http://www.help4did.com
fallenstar@help4did.com
Co-Author of “The Survivor Archives”
http://survivor-archives.squarespace.com
trauma.survivors@gmail.com
________________________________________
Center Would Benefit Abused Children: Possible Child Advocacy Center in Sedgwick County, Kansas to Investigate Child Abuse Reports.
 |  | The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.) |
Sep. 2—Although there is wide agreement that child advocacy centers are an ideal way to investigate child abuse reports, Sedgwick County, KA has none. That could be changing. A task force is working to establish such a center in Sedgwick County.
In the discussion of a recent Wichita, KA child abuse case — where investigators say two girls were starved and beaten over a 10-month period — child advocacy centers have been touted as a better way to investigate reported abuse or neglect.
When ideally designed, a child advocacy center puts all the main professionals needed to investigate reported abuse or neglect — law enforcement, social services and medical and mental health personnel — under one roof, operating around the clock. It enhances coordination among agencies, streamlines the process and makes it easier to determine whether allegations are false, said Ron Paschal, a Sedgwick County deputy district attorney who is taking a lead role to establish a center within the county.
District Attorney Nola Foulston, who chose Paschal to work on the task force, has been a vocal supporter of the advocacy center concept.
“At the present time, there are too many ways that a child may get lost in the system, or in the worst case, never found,” she said in an e-mail responding to questions from The Eagle.
Interview process is key
Most importantly, many say, a center reduces the amount of stress children encounter because it relies on focused interviews designed so a child has to tell his story to authorities only once.
Many of the children who come through centers can be victims of sexual abuse or extreme physical abuse. Interviewing them over and over adds to their trauma, officials say.
Sedgwick County District Judge Timothy Henderson, who hears child abuse cases, said this is why he supports a center.
“Think about what it might be to a 10-year-old child… the most emotional, draining, traumatic thing in their lives, and they’re having to tell it to one stranger after another,” Henderson said.
At an advocacy center, the interview room has only two people — an expertly trained interviewer and the child. The interviewer has a thorough knowledge of child development, so the approach is tailored to the age of the child.
Others watch the recorded interview from an observation room, out of the child’s sight. They provide advice and consult one another.
The interviewer and the others at the center not only determine what criminal action might be required, they also “cohesively plan” for the child based on the child’s specific needs, Foulston said.
Effectively helping children who suffer protects society in countless ways, Foulston said. Otherwise, she said, “children who are subjected to abuse and neglect in turn become adults who perpetrate the same crimes over and over again.”
No easy goal
Paschal, a veteran prosecutor who oversees child abuse cases, said the work to set up a center in Sedgwick County is “by far the most important thing I’ve ever worked on.”
But it’s no easy goal, officials say, because it forces agencies to set aside egos and turf battles.
Money is another main challenge. A Kansas law passed in 2004 allowed a $100 fee to be assessed against people convicted of crimes against children so the money could go to child advocacy centers. But in the first year after it became law, it generated only about $1,100, said Kathleen Inwood, president of the Kansas Chapter of Children’s Advocacy Centers.
Paschal said the law is raising little money in part because it is fairly new and prosecutors are still learning about it.
Also, the law gives judges discretion to waive the fee if it would cause a financial hardship on the person convicted. Many people convicted of such crimes are indigent, Paschal said.
State Rep. Brenda Landwehr, who is on the center task force with Paschal, said another state law — increasing the fine for violating the booster seat law — will eventually raise more money for advocacy centers.
Still, centers can’t rely too much on state money without losing their “neutrality,” Landwehr said.
Landwehr, a Wichita Republican, has at times been critical of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, saying it has tended to be too quick to recommend that children be removed from their homes. She is an active supporter of advocacy centers.
The task force also has included input from the district attorney’s office, SRS, law enforcement, the Exploited and Missing Children Unit, a medical component, mental health component and the Wichita, KA Children’s Home. Others who could become involved are the Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center and Court Appointed Special Advocates, which looks after children’s interests in court hearings. But the list is in no way final, Paschal said.
The task force is still trying to determine the center’s precise needs, so it’s too early to estimate a cost, or say what all agencies would be involved or settle on a location or opening date, Paschal said.
Financing would include contributions from the agencies involved, state money and possibly grants and private money, he said.
Centers in Kansas
According to Inwood, Kansas has nine child advocacy centers — operating in Dodge City, Emporia, Hutchinson, Newton, Pittsburg, Salina, Scott City, Shawnee and Topeka. Others are under development.
Oklahoma has 21 centers; Missouri has 18. Both states provide significant money for their centers, said Nancy Chandler, executive director of the National Children’s Alliance, the centers’ membership and accrediting organization.
Nationwide, there are more than 600 advocacy centers. The first opened in 1985.
——-
Copyright (c) 2006, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.
This article really hits home with me.
I've used poetry all my life to help express the pain of my past. I do have a poetry gallery with poems on the subject. Just for people to read. To listen. To understand what happens after a child is abused. But the woman in this article is doing what I'd dream to - what we all want to see happen. To end the plague of abuse and neglect to our children, directly fighting it through her words. I'd love to attend one of the workshops mentioned. This is, indeed, very inspiring.
- Joanna Doane
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Poetry With a Purpose: Woman Works to End Sexual Abuse of Children Through Verse
 | The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; 7/7/2006 |
Jul. 7--Her poetry is of pain, pedophiles and stolen innocence. Her mission is to protect children from predators. Her primary weapons are information and poetic verses that describe the crude reality that victims of childhood sexual abuse face.
I used to be a lot more optimistic
Before I knew the statistic that one in three will wake with crimson stained sheets
And their souls shall bleed their innocence like our ancestors' unwanted children
Burdens will be left to carry heavier than me
Pain will become their solace and lying their hobby
They will mouth words but won't speak
It is a sad state of affairs we're in
When the boogie man no longer resides under their beds
But in between their sheets
Those words were penned by Yushima Cherry. She is 28, a mother of two. She also runs her own business, called blackpoetree workshops.
Most of Cherry's workshops involve uplifting projects meant to build bonds of sisterhood. The workshops have titles such as "Manicure Night" and "Spa Day," "Poetic Expressions" and "Jewelry Making." But one workshop title stands out from the rest: "Abolishing Childhood Sexual Abuse." It's the only workshop with parts I and II.
Cherry said ending childhood sexual abuse must be a bigger priority, not only because it leaves victims scarred, but also because it spawns a wide variety of other social ills, such as teenage pregnancy and the poverty that often ensues.
"It effects us economically, socially," she said. "So if we don't abolish this thing, this vicious cycle (will) continue."
In her workshops, at the Wisconsin African-American Women's Center, 3020 W. Vliet St., Cherry addresses topics ranging from the signs of abuse to how sexual predators use secrets, games and guilt to keep their victims silent. She has designed some of those workshops specifically for children ages 16 and younger.
She deals with issues from the dicey situations that can ensue when victims or caretakers report childhood sexual abuse, to the dangers of some parental practices, such as writing children's names on book bags or coats.
Writing a child's name on clothing or book bags is bad idea, Cherry said, because those items could fall into the hands of a sexual predator who could use the child's name to lure kids by claiming to know them.
Since she began her workshops in June, Cherry said, three children have disclosed to her that they were victims of sexual abuse. In one case, she said, the disclosure is believed to be the child's first. She says the case has been referred to child protection authorities.
Her workshops so far have ranged from a half-dozen to nearly a dozen participants at each session. Workshop fees are $15 for one adult, $25 for couples and $15 for two children.
Lynn Sheets, medical director of the Child Protection Center at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, said forums such as those Cherry is conducting on abuse are important because they provide an additional venue for victims to disclose abuse.
"You're talking about something that is extremely common, that many people don't talk about and often won't make a disclosure at the time it happens because it's embarrassing or it's a family member," Sheets said. "There's lots of reasons people don't report at the time. And there are lots of adults who were molested as children and never addressed" the problems they suffer from as a result.
Sheets was not endorsing Cherry's workshops and expressed concerns about some of Cherry's advice, such as having a child victim of sexual abuse disclose to a therapist first in certain situations instead of going directly to police.
"I don't think you can make a blanket statement on the best way to disclose," Sheets said, suggesting that those who wish to report sexual abuse should contact the Child Protection Center.
Break the silence
In her workshops, Cherry deals with some of the trying situations that victims may face, such as when a young victim may be faced with deciding whether to make a report that could land a parent or caretaker in jail. Her advice is to break the silence despite the costs.
"It's not going to be easy all the time once you disclose," Cherry said. "You're going to deal with some people who may not believe you. But in the end, you are given that power back over yourself, over your body, by breaking that silence."
She offered advice for parents who might suspect that a child is at risk of being sexually abused: Trust your intuition.
"You have a sixth sense for a reason. And if in your gut, you feel something is not right, nine times out of 10, it's not."
Participants in Cherry's workshops on sexual abuse sometimes ask her what moved her to address the subject.
Her poetry offers some hints.
as i watch her play by the lake with a friend
i see pedophiles watching her hoping to dig in
and i wonder how i can protect her from these sick minded freaks of nature
who prey on the small and weak
until i become overwhelmed with fear and consumed with grief
and then i know what i must do to protect this child of mine
keep her at my bosom and their necks at my heel
until they lose sight of these children
and what they want to steal
For more information about blackpoetree workshops, call (414) 828-2774 or send an e-mail to blackpoetreeworkshops@yahoo.com. To report childhood sexual abuse, call the Child Protection Center at (414) 277-8984.
-----
Copyright (c) 2006, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright 2006 The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
This material is published under license from the publisher through YellowBrix, Alexandria, Virginia. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to YellowBrix.