Sharon - An anti-child molestation and sexual abuse organization has targeted Sharon as one of the initial towns in Massachusetts in which the group would like to implement its mission.
According to the group, Darkness to Light, one out of every four girls and one out of every six boys are sexually abused by the time they reach 18. Of these teens, most will never report the sexual abuse, their statistics say.
Its these statistics that the Darkness to Light program cites as the reason it was started in 2000. This group, which focuses on prevention by training adults to protect children, is now coming to Sharon.
Tony Calcia, vice president of child protection and social responsibility at the YMCA said that the initiative was a crucial step in protecting Sharon children from abuse. He said that the group would have to take the problem on head on.
“It’s not a teacher problem, it’s not a coach problem, it’s not a church problem,” he said. “It’s a cultural problem.”
President and CEO of the organization, Anne Lee, who was sexually abused as a child, said she started the group because she didn’t want people to go through what she did.
For 34 years after the abuse happened to her, she remained silent. A confused 4-year-old, abused by a trusted and loved family member, she thought it would be safer to keep the issue to herself.
“He told me I was a dirty little girl and if my mother knew this about me, she would no longer love me,” she said in an interview with the Post and Courier in 2010. “So silent I remained until I was 38.”
Lee said that Darkness to Light could stop this type of abuse because it is based on preparing parents to prevent against this behavior.
“I knew if my parents had resources to teach them to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to sexual abuse, my childhood would have been very different,” she said.
The initiative will be spreading to five communities in the Massachusetts area this year, including Sharon. Once established in Sharon, the program will offer lessons on how to prevent against sexual abuse. The video-based training, lasting approximately two and a half hours, will cost $7 to cover the materials.
Calcia said that he has so far been received very well in Sharon.
“I’m really pleased that Sharon like the other communities we’ve visited have really embraced it,” he said.
The selectmen voted Tuesday unanimously to support the group’s efforts in Sharon, and offered their future assistance to the group.
Evan Koslof
8/4/11
Originally Posted: http://www.wickedlocal.com/sharon/news/x2111989062/Darkness-to-Light-hopes-to-curb-child-crimes#axzz1Tw0FonCe
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