Counselors in general (and specifically school counselors) can have a significant role in prevention of child sexual abuse because:
- Most children often do not like to discuss concerns and/or incidents of abuse because they don’t believe that they will be taken seriously
- Most abusers are typically members or close friends of the family, and therefore, children do not feel safe discussing this at home or with a family member
- Counselors in general (and specifically school counselors) can be in regular contact with children, and therefore, are often viewed by children as trusted adults outside the home/family
- All counselors are generally mandated reporters – and therefore, concerns and/or incidents of abuse will typically reach the appropriate authorities
- Counselors are professionally trained individuals who are able to discuss topics of this nature appropriately with children
- Many of our systems such as Child Protective System or the Law Enforcement System are not really designed to ‘prevent’ child sexual abuse. But even these systems are more likely to respond to a concern brought in by a counselor rather than by an ordinary citizen
Because of these reasons stated above, I was excited to speak at the Indiana Counseling Association conference in Indianapolis on Friday March 13. The topic for this presentation was my second book “Father Figure – my mission to prevent child sexual abuse”.