Together We Can Prevent the Sexual Abuse of Children |
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Dear Prevention Community,
We know it has been a while (more than a year!) since our last e-news, but we want to assure you that Stop It Now! is doing well and moving ahead with our many initiatives!
Our service for young people, called WhatsOK, continues to grow thanks to 3rd year funding we received from the World Childhood Foundation. We developed this website and helpline for youth and young adults (between the ages of 14 and 21) with concerns about their own or a friend’s sexual thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The increasing number of helpline contacts and website visits demonstrate a serious need – one that we’re only just beginning to meet. We continue to focus on dissemination and marketing efforts for the program while simultaneously writing and releasing new resources based on the questions youth are often asking us. For a glimpse into some of the trends and conversations we are having on WhatsOK, please see the "What We Are Hearing On WhatsOK" section below.
Additionally, the Oak Foundation funded a 5-year research program that first included scanning perpetration prevention intervention programs globally, resulting in the selection of five or more programs for additional evaluation of efficacy. Read the press release for this evaluation here, and read more about WhatsOK's part in this evaluation below.
We are also thrilled to be presenting WhatsOK and our other work at conferences throughout the fall- read "Join Now! at These Conferences" below to find out which events we will be attending!
And lastly, we have two exciting promotions on the Now! team. Longtime Helpline counselor Micah now has a larger role in supervision and training. And Sian, who has been a part-time counselor for years, is now coming on full-time as a counselor and trainer.
This team growth is part of a larger investment in our Circles of Safety training and other educational opportunities for youth-serving professionals. In the coming months, we’ll have more exciting updates to share. In the meantime, please visit our Virtual Classroom page to see our training offerings or email training@stopitnow.org with your inquiries.
These are some of the highlights from the past year or so; we’re having conversations and promoting primary prevention in many new spaces. Please reach out and let us know what you've been doing for prevention in your community, and thank you for staying in touch with us and being a part of our community of prevention.
Warmly,
Jenny Coleman
Director, Stop It Now!
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Conversations We're Having
First Year of CDC-USAF Circles of Safety Evaluation
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We are coming to the end of the first year of the CDC-funded research collaboration between the Center for Violence Prevention Research (CVPR), Stop It Now!, and USA Football. This study will measure the impact of Now!'s Circles of Safety® prevention training for youth-serving organizations.
In the first year of this evaluation, we have been working hard with external experts to review our current trainings, taking the opportunity to update and revise our curriculum. This project further allows us to think more broadly about how to reach adults who care for and are responsible for kids with meaningful and applicable prevention tools and information.
By the project's end, we expect to have new evidence of how adult-focused, primary prevention programs can keep more children safe from abuse and trauma. We will also gain invaluable information to help Now! continually improve the training, implement it more widely, and ultimately, protect more children.
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WhatsOK continues to make strides in its third year!
Use of the helpline has more than doubled over this same time period last year. Our
primary target audience – young people seeking help for their own thoughts, feelings and behaviors – comprise the majority of the helpline users, and that target alone is nearly a 200% increase since the same time period last year. Additionally, there has been a 96% increase in traffic to WhatsOK.org over the same period in 2022.
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An added focus this year has been dissemination of this resource, our results, and our learnings.
If you would like posters, digital resources, or other materials that convey the usefulness of and promote WhatsOK in your community, school district, or other youth-serving organization, please access our Google Drive folder of printable WhatsOK promotional materials below. |
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WhatsOK Helpline counselors are speaking daily with youth who are reaching out about some of their pressing concerns regarding their own behaviors and about what they are observing in their friend's behavior. In the first half of this year, nearly 60% of helpline users were reaching out with concerns about their own sexual thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Common themes we heard from those reaching out include fictional sexual content, intrusive sexual thoughts (POCD/OCD), sexual behavior as a child, porn use, and healthy sexual development, with questions like "is what I did creepy/weird/ok or not" and "is what I experienced abuse". When known, those seeking self-help were most often males, while bystanders reaching out were most often female. When known, more than half of those reaching out were minors under 18, and 10% were 13 and under.
The youth who reach out to our Helpline are reflective inquirers, often demonstrating a real commitment to being a safe person - but are struggling to understand safe boundaries and how to manage their own reactions to what they are viewing.
We will keep responding to and supporting these youth! And we've been able to use their inquiries to create a series of new blogs on whatsok.org so that other youth with the same questions can find answers and support even faster.
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I think I am watching too much porn. What should I do? |
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Did I experience sexual harm? |
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How will I know when my boundaries are crossed? |
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Evaluation of WhatsOK as a Promising Global Perpetration Prevention Program
A team combining researchers from both the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of Ottawa’s Institute of Mental Health Research at The Royal selected WhatsOK as one of the most promising intervention programs to evaluate. As the Center for Violence Prevention Research has already been supporting the evaluation of this important new work they will continue to do so, now working with external key researchers to specifically evaluate the impact of WhatsOK as a resource.
Following an almost two-year scalability assessment, WhatsOK was selected from a global pool of perpetration prevention programs to assess effectiveness specifically for young people at risk for perpetrating sexual violence or who have already harmed, with a potential outcome for ongoing support through the Oak Foundation.
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On Sibling Sexual Behavior |
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"Most child sexual abuse takes place within the family home. The most common form of child sexual abuse within families is thought to involve child siblings.
That’s why it is important that parents, carers, and professionals understand sibling sexual behavior, how to respond and where to get help."
Our sister organization, Stop It Now! U.K. & Ireland, has released an excellent new resource that defines what sibling sexual abuse is, describes how to recognize it, and explains how to respond it including a list of support resources.
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We also hope you had a chance to attend #SiblingsToo Day last spring!
We were honored to participate in this global conversation about the impact of sibling abuse, and what we can do to prevent and address risk factors.
For more information about this event and the organization running it as well as how to register for 2024's #SiblingsToo Day, please visit their website.
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"Dear Stop It Now! Helpline...My Daughter Sexually Abused Her Sister" |
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We are so encouraged that there are increased conversations and resources about sibling abuse.
One such resource that we have had the pleasure of seeing grow over the past few years is Complicated Courage, led by speaker, author, and advocate, Jane Epstein.
Jane was kind enough to join the Now! team in 2022 for a discussion exploring what sibling sexual abuse is, looking at next steps, therapy, safety, and how to move forward after sibling sexual abuse has impacted a family.
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Major supporters of Stop It Now! and our mission for the past few years, Jeff & Angie Tjugum continued to raise support for Now! with their end-of-summer fundraiser, Tjugums’ Big Night Out! |
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Jeff & Angie hosted more than a hundred people over the course of an evening at their home; supplying dinner, drinks, live music, and a wonderful atmosphere. Not only did their event raise awareness of and spread Stop It Now!’s prevention materials, it also raised over $30,000 for Stop It Now!
So, please join us in thanking Jeff, Angie, and all of their friends, family, and co-workers who came together to support our cause. Their generosity has lifted our spirits and will allow us to expand our outreach and help 1000’s more kids, adults, and families stay safe from sexual harm.
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"I'm much obliged to your prompt response with clear and caring advice...After reading your email...I know how to face the distress feeling if and when it arises...I really appreciate your efforts to make this world a better place."
- A woman who struggled with memories of a childhood sexual behavior
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Join Now! at These Conferences |
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If you plan on attending any of the following conferences look out for members of the Now! team there! We will be presenting at the following: |
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November 1 - 2, 2023 - Children's Trust's A View from All Sides - New England’s premier family support conference. This two-day conference brings together local experts in child abuse prevention, family support, and parent education to learn from one another and stop child abuse in Massachusetts. |
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Welcome Sian to the Now! Team
We want to give a huge welcome to the newest member of the Stop It Now! Helpline, Sian!
You may have met Sian previously; she formerly went by Mackenzie. While Sian has worked with the team and on our Helpline for several years, this is the first time she has been able to officially join Stop It Now!. We are so happy to have her expertise, articulate and intelligent voice, and calming presence on-board at all times, and we look forward to the great work Sian will continue to do while on the Stop It Now! Helpline.
Micah Becomes our Training & Development Specialist
Micah and Now! Director, Jenny Coleman, have collaborated for years on countless training materials including our Circles of Safety courses, On-Demand Video Trainings, Webinars, Trainers' Booster sessions, and other various consulting and training assignments Now! has taken on over the years.
Micah ensures that the educational experience provided by our training materials is natural, and that material that could otherwise be overwhelming is treated with sensitivity and patience. These are qualities Micah brings to both their technique as a teacher and as a designer, tailoring presentations and writings for trainings so that they are easier to comprehend and professionally polished.
So, it only makes sense that Micah be promoted as our new Training & Development Specialist. We hope you'll join us in congratulating them, and that you explore some of the wonderful training materials they have been working on that we plan on releasing soon.
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© 2023 Stop It Now! All Rights Reserved. |
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