The tragedy of child sexual abuse is unfortunately a story many have heard or experienced. Often we hear about cases where adults are the perpetrators, abusing their positions of trust and power to sexually exploit. However, a large percentage of these cases are not receiving the same level of public attention: child-on-child sexual abuse.
Parents, educators, and child safety experts are concerned with the rising number of children who sexually abuse other children. This concern is only growing especially given our media-driven world. As children observe the countless examples of sexually explicit media, whether that is through magazines in the local grocery store checkout line, on the Netflix queue, or the ever looming threat of Internet pornography, it can almost be expected that children might try to act out on others.
If this is such a big issue, why is no one talking about it? In fact, it has been estimated that one-third to 66% of all child sexual abuse perpetrators are children themselves. We have heard stories of children as young as 8 years old sexually harming other children. The shame, stigma, and helplessness many feel while dealing with these cases shrouds the issue in darkness and prevents us from learning how to handle them appropriately.
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation is also deeply concerned with this issue, and so we are hosting a National Symposium on March 20-21, 2019, “Out of the Shadows: Confronting the Rise of Child-On-Child Harmful Sexual Behavior.” The event will be the premiere place to hear from leading experts, victim advocates, and practitioners with firsthand experience on research and policy recommendations, addressing child-on-child abuse when it occurs, and prevention. Parents, educators, child safety experts, and all who are passionate about ending sexual exploitation are encouraged to attend.
This symposium is being held in collaboration with the National Catholic School of Social Service at The Catholic University of America and Protect Young Minds.
To learn more about the Symposium and register to attend, go here.
