Just last week, we had the privilege of attending a church conference addressing Child Abuse, identifying resources for victims and how to be aware of potential perpetrators. We couldn’t help but cringe in our chairs as we watched videos of convicted child abusers tell sordid details on how they preyed on little children between the ages of 8 and 13 for  decades saying how naive and sometimes gullible some parents were to leave their kids without supervision with people  – even people they know very well.

some of the convicted child abusers were church members, school teachers, lesson teachers, and respected society members – people you would have never thought would harm a child ! As it turns out more than 70 % of perpetrators in child abuse cases in Africa, Europe and North America are usually relatives and people you known not some lurking stranger off the street.

So this begs the question. Since you can’t be with your kids 100% of the time how does one combat child abuse? The first answer of course is to stop being naive and to be extremely cautios. Always assume no one can be trusted with a child beccause you never know just might be looking to take advantage of your little one.

 

The next best course of action is to educate your child on what constitutes an acceptable form of relationship with strangers and non-strangers. An average 4 year old knows what their body parts are and as a parent it is your duty to educate them how to resist unwarranted touches to their private parts and or alert you of such advances.

Remember the worst thing you can do is not listen to a child reporting the occurrence of an abuse.

 

Always educate, listen, stay vigilant,