Today on The Mamaste Podcast we chat with Feather Berkower, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Founder of Parenting Safe Children, and Childhood Sexual Assault  Prevention Educator. Feather is on a mission to abolish childhood sexual abuse through normalizing conversation and educating her clients on the facts. This is such an important topic to cover and, yes, it can be uncomfortable to learn about. However, the information Feather presents will leave you feeling empowered to talk to your caregivers, schools, and families to ensure that your child stays safe. We also talk about trends in childhood sexual abuse statistics and the most important thing we can do to prevent childhood sexual assault. April is Sexual Assault Prevention month, so please educate yourself and your communities on how we can prevent sexual assault for everyone, including our children.

*Possible Trigger Warning: Childhood Sexual Abuse Content*

When you’re looking for a Youth Organization, babysitter, daycares, etc. these are some questions to ask:

What safety rules do you have in place?

What’s your cellphone (if you have older kids) policy?

How do you enforce the safety rules?

Most offenders “groom” their targets. The grooming process typically looks something like:

weeks/months

building friendship—attention, love, making them feel special

tickling to test boundaries

rewarding-toys, candy

keeping secrets- small secrets at first then they build up to make sure they’re keeping secrets

Resources

David Finkelhor, Ph.D

Off Limits: A Parent’s Guide to Keeping Kids Safe from Sexual Abuse

parentingsafechildren.com

Parenting Safe Children on Instagram