SAGE Inc: Empowering Educating Preventing Child Sexual Abuse: Breaking the Silence Project Funded by: SAGE INC.; National Crime Prevention Center; Social Economy and Sustainability Research Network, Subnode 2: Inclusion and Empowerment Contact: Dr. Colleen MacQuarrie, UPEI

Context for the work The Secret is...Child Sexual Abuse is still happening ➤ Statistics vary but at a minimum 1 in 3 girls; 1 in 5 boys are sexually abused ➤ A child will tell 7 people before anyone takes action ➣ And sometimes nothing happens... ➤ Stigma that is silencing us ➤ Victim identity keeps us disempowered and we want to change that ➤ Nobody is doing much about it, onus is still on children to stop it Our culture still puts the site of prevention on the child ➤ Because of our experience survivors can lead the way; the commitment, and the endurance it will take to make long lasting change

Context for the work ➤ Child sexual abuse ➣ Maintains power relations within our culture ➣ Patriarchy is supported ➤ Solutions need to be as complex as the problem is ➣ All levels of our culture ➤ Survivors are central to creating solutions ➣ voice and action from the ones who know

Evaluation of Breaking the Silence Project ➤ The project, designed by and for women who experienced child sexual abuse, is focussed on the prevention of child sexual abuse. ➤ A participatory action research (PAR) model means that the research team is comprised of people who are directly affected by the research. The team will start with a core group of survivors, however because the team will evolve as the project evolves members will come and go.

Women survivors ➤ Practicing being Brave ➤ Next Step for the Prevention Strategy ➣ mobilize ➣ empower ➣ community leaders for a prevention strategy ➤ Break down the barriers to communication about a taboo topic, child sexual abuse

Project Overview Vision: Art that animates our community ➤ Tangible educational materials ➣ Phase 1: Book: Beyond Silence ➣ First voice accounts for prevention ➣ Phase 2: Theatre ➣ One-hour tourable play ➣ Phase 3: DVD, speaker series ➤ Create knowledge within our community (including virtual community: website) ➤ Expand and solidify partnerships with community allies in violence prevention work

This research will address some important questions ➤ How do you effectively engage first voice accounts around the prevention of child sexual abuse? ➤ How do adult survivor’s of child sexual abuse create knowledge about prevention? ➤ How do local communities respond to educational materials created by adult survivor’s of child sexual abuse?

Project Update ➤ The writers submitted their manuscript to the publisher, Acorn Press, for a March 2009 release of their book. ➤ Evaluation of the project process is ongoing. ➤ The Board continues to write funding proposals for the next phases of the project. ➤ All our presentations and public reports will be posted to our website.