In my book about prevention of child sexual abuse I talk about my efforts in trying to prevent a situation that could possibly lead to abuse. However, in that process I experienced a most disturbing trend – almost from all corners (i.e., various systems and family members) I kept getting the message that I should not worry so much – I should just let it go because nothing bad would happen. That made it clear to me that we have a long way to go to develop an appropriate preventive mindset.
The Child Protective Services were polite in term of listening to my concerns, but it was clear to me that they were hoping that I would stop calling them and asking them to take some preventive action. The employees are all dedicated and hard-working, but it was clear to me that they did not have the time and/or authority to investigate a preventive situation and take some appropriate action.
The situation was similar with the law enforcement officials. They too gave me the feeling that they would rather see me go away instead of pursuing the matter any further. However, I was not willing to give up because this was a matter of protecting at-risk children.
We need to continue to work on this and make our society a better place, especially for our children, who are typically dependent on adults for their protection.