Spiritual Communities Action Team Keeping Our Children Safe

What is the Spiritual Communities Action Team? A group of individuals who dedicated 18 months to looking at ways to prevent sexual abuse of children. We were from various perspectives including: victim advocates, prevention advocates, faith leaders, public health professions, and others. This initiative was part Minnesota’s Five Year State Plan to Prevent Sexual Violence. Our work is informed and supported by research and information from spiritual communities. You might be wondering who we are and why we working with faith communities. We are a group of people who are concerned about sexual abuse prevention for a number of reasons. Some of us work with victims of sexual abuse and wish to stem the tide of abuse cases we see. Others of us are leaders within their spiritual community. Others of us are involved in public health and have special training in assisting with prevention activities. 9/17/2018

Is Sexual Abuse A Real Problem? One of every three girls and one out of every seven boys will have a sexual abuse experience before they are eighteen years old. These statistics are pretty stable throughout different regions of MN and within every ethnic, religious and socio-economic group. Much of sexual abuse goes un-reported. 9/17/2018

Sexual Abuse Happens in Every Ethnic and Socio-economic Group Rich or poor: Poverty, which contributes to violence in many communities, is not seen as a risk factor for child sexual abuse. Race matters: African-American women are less likely than white women to involve police in cases of child sexual abuse. Boys are also abused: About 14 percent of all young victims of sexual assault are male, according to police reports. *No Secrets, No Lies: How Black Families Can Heal From Sexual Abuse by author and journalist Robin D. Stone Most of us feel it is unlikely that sexual abuse could actually occur within our own community. Most of recognize Although it is difficult to imagine that sexual abuse occurs within our communities 9/17/2018

Long Term Health Consequences of Sexual Abuse Depression Chemical Dependency Obesity Lung Disorders Heart Disease Liver Disease http://www.cdc.gov/ace/findings.htm ACE.org 9/17/2018

That doesn’t even begin to explore the emotional impact of sexual abuse. Social isolation Difficulties with trust Anxiety Post-traumatic stress Relationship problems Guilt and shame Anger “Social and Emotional Outcomes of Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Review of Recent Research” by Kimberly Tyler, 2002 http://www.dcrcc.org/support_counseling/adult_survivors_of_child_sexual_abuse/C121/emotional_effects1/ 9/17/2018

We only need to worry about strangers anyway, right? Who are most perpetrators of sexual abuse? Trusted family/friends: over 90% of sexually abused children are victimized by someone they know and trust. Relatives: 35% of sexual abuse is by biological family members. This is not to say that sexual abuse is biologically caused. 9/17/2018

But there are no sexual perpetrators in our community? Male or female Young or old Any economic group Any ethnic group Any religion 9/17/2018

People who sexually offend are usually adults, right? 50 % of adult sexual offenders began in childhood and continue into adulthood. Early intervention is the best prevention. Every perpetrator was someone’s child. 9/17/2018

Family Contribution to Sexual Health – Based On Current Research Adequate resources – both financially and people wise Secure attachment and positive emotional bonds Limiting exposure to sexual content and context Defined family structure Protecting children from sexual abuse and assisting with children’s recovery from sexual abuse Responding to sexually unhealthy behaviors among family members 9/17/2018

Family Contribution to Sexual Health - Based On Experiences Showing appropriate models for physical affection Discussing morals and ethics as they relate to sexuality Clear generational roles Good balance between autonomy and family unity Ability to change attitudes as children develop sexually Egalitarian gender roles 9/17/2018

Family Factors Contributing to the Sexual Abuse of Children Within or Outside the Family – Retrospective Studies Poor relationship between child and parent – this is a strong effect Parents in conflict with each other Communication between parents and child Lack of appropriate sex education These are things we can sometimes change. Explain standard deviation Each standard deviation decreased risk 3.5 fold. Colombian population. Questions focused frequency of communication on child’s feelings, child’s problems and child’s friendships. 9/17/2018 Family Enhancement Center

Prospective Information Mother being sexually abused as a child Stressful life events more common among the families in which sexual abuse occurred Families who report less social support have an increased risk for sexual abuse of their children Mother being sexually abused as a child 10 fold increase in her child being sexually abused Social isolation occurs more among special needs families. 9/17/2018 Family Enhancement Center

GOALS Open the discussion on how we can keep all children safe. Share the work of our Spiritual Communities Action Team. Get your feedback 9/17/2018

Why should it be my responsibility? Families look to their spiritual community for guidance. There are both victims and perpetrators among your congregants. You can have an amazing impact of prevention. Story of pastoral guidance advising forgiveness in family sexual abuse case. 9/17/2018

Putting it All Together - Valley of Peace Lutheran Church Relationships: Cherish Our Children, Advocates for Human Rights, local grade school Policies: Safe church policies, Safe Harbor law Education: Internet safety, “Safeguarding God’s Children” Spiritual practices: Prayer for all children and young people, ages birth to 25, sermons, financial giving 9/17/2018

Your Spiritual Community

Your Feedback… Is this model helpful? Why or why not? Would you use it? If so, how? What part is most useful? What’s missing? What barriers are there to using this model? If you are already engaged in prevention activities, how would you start using this model? How would you engage others in using this model? 9/17/2018

Thank you! Would you like to be a pilot congregation? Contact person: Lessons from a Tree 9/17/2018

Experiences with the Tree Number of congregations contacted for focus group: 3 Number of congregations that agreed to meet for focus group: 3 Types of congregations: Nondenominational Lutheran Catholic Number of focus group members: 8 to 14 9/17/2018

Experiences with the Tree Church of New Life Richfield, MN 9/17/2018

Experiences with the Tree St. Thomas More Catholic Parish St. Paul, MN Valley of Peace Lutheran Church Golden Valley, MN 9/17/2018

Spiritual Roots Many focus group members responded that there are spiritual roots in their religious tradition that support the concept of keeping all children safe. Many mentioned passages from spiritual texts. Others mentioned ceremonial practices like baby naming. Others described holding regular services which feature children in some way. 9/17/2018

The Tree Model for Prevention Participants said: The tree made the topic comfortable. The tree helps organize a complex topic. The tree could be used to increase awareness. 9/17/2018

What are these congregations are already doing to address prevention? No congregations were addressing all “branches”. Youth programming on healthy relationships Policies on how to hire safe staff Children’s programming to support families Train staff about mandated reporting 9/17/2018

Focus Group Members brought up issues to think about Congregations need concrete steps to get started. Congregations need to balance members privacy with addressing abuse issues. There is a need to teach parents how to be safer parents. Need to create ways to address parents when they have concerns about a child. 9/17/2018

More issues….. Parents need to feel it is safe to come to the church for help. Need to address issues related to offenders who want to attend church. There is a need for on-going groups of parents to get access to information and support. 9/17/2018

Ideas for Improving the Tree Tree website with clickable links to resources Tree website that would include links to spiritual communities that use the tree Tree could be used as a symbol for prevention training 9/17/2018

Next Steps… Training for those who want to use the Prevention Tree with spiritual communities Training/facilitation with spiritual communities directly ???????? 9/17/2018