4 Things You Can Do To Prevent Child Abuse

Photo by Will Porada on Unsplash

The Blue Umbrella Day, marked for the first time on April 16, 2021, sponsors a campaign to raise awareness on how to better care for boys and protect them from sexual abuse.

Caring for Boys Affected by Sexual Violence

One of the resources cited by the campaign is Caring for Boys Affected by Sexual Violence, a study of the global problem of boys abuse published by The Family for Every Child in 2018. Below are the findings and prevention actions in the study.

Findings

I wanted to highlight the most important findings but all are important. Here is the complete list.

1. Sexual violence affecting boys remains little known and rarely responded to due to gendered social norms

2. Boys may be made vulnerable to sexual violence as a result of their parents’ actions or inaction

3. Caregivers’ capacity to protect boys from sexual violence may be hindered by poverty, insecurity and taboos and attitudes about sex and sexuality

4. Sexual violence can be a cause or consequence of family separation for all children, but boys are affected in particular ways

5. Children in foster care are affected by sexual violence at higher rates than children in the…