Showing posts with label sexual abuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sexual abuse. Show all posts

Sunday, April 23, 2023

Five Days of Action for Child Abuse Prevention

As adults, perhaps our biggest responsibility in our lifetime is to protect our children, and the uncertainty of the world today has made that more important now than ever before. 

Statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that 1 in 10 children in the United States are sexually abused before their 18th birthday, typically by someone they know and trust; and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that 1 in 5 children will be solicited sexually on the internet. Child sexual abuse is happening regardless of age, gender, race, religion or socio-economic class.

But these are not just numbers. Behind every number is a child, a child who has been robbed of their innocence. A child whose life will forever have been changed by the heinous act of an adult. We owe it to our children, and we owe it to their future, to do better. 

As part of our commitment to social responsibility to the communities we serve, the Hockomock Area YMCA, along with YMCAs throughout Massachusetts and across the nation will be sponsoring Five Days of Action for Child Abuse Prevention, a campaign committed to raise awareness and inspire adults to take an active role to protect children from sexual abuse. 

While child protection is our Y’s number one priority every day, this critical campaign will run from April 24th through April 28th as we approach summertime, and will shine a collective spotlight on how everyone can do something to prevent child sexual abuse. 

Our Y will share information and resources each day to our members and community partners about how adults can prevent, recognize and respond to child sexual abuse situations to keep children safe.

Help us prevent child sexual abuse through Know, See, Respond.  When adults know how abuse happens, see the warning signs, and respond quickly to prevent abuse, they foster a culture of child abuse prevention. Together we can bring awareness to the issue of child sexual abuse in our communities and have important conversations on how we can all work together to prevent it from happening. Please join our YMCA to spread important awareness and resources with your social networks and family and friends around this devastating epidemic.

Our YMCA is proud to have partnered and collaborated with school systems, municipalities and other human service organizations throughout our service area to help bring awareness, education and training regarding this issue. We remain committed to this collaborative cause and our effort to be part of a community-based prevention movement.  

Please visit one of our three branches to sign a pledge to protect kids all year long. We invite you to wear blue on Wednesday, April 26th, to show your support of protecting all children from sexual abuse.

For more information and resources, visit our website at hockymca.org/child-protection or email protectkids@hockymca.org. In addition to reviewing our online resources, the community is invited to a no-cost Bystander Training at Plainridge Park Casino on Monday, April 24th from 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.

As responsible adults, we need to give children a happy, healthy and safe childhood. Our world needs them, and they need us. Let’s give them the childhood they deserve.    

Jim Downs
CEO, Hockomock Area YMCA

Monday, April 18, 2022

Five Days of Action: Child Sexual Abuse Prevention initiative

As adults, perhaps our biggest responsibility in our lifetime is to protect our children, and the uncertainty of the world today has made that more important now than ever before. 

Statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that 1 in 10 children in the United States are sexually abused before their 18th birthday, typically by someone they know and trust; and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that 1 in 5 children will be solicited sexually on the internet. Child sexual abuse is happening regardless of age, gender, race, religion or socio-economic class.

But these are not just numbers. Behind every number is a child, a child who has been robbed of their innocence. A child whose life will forever have been changed by the heinous act of an adult. We owe it to our children, and we owe it to their future, to do better. 

As part of our commitment to social responsibility to the communities we serve, the Hockomock Area YMCA, along with YMCAs throughout Massachusetts and across the nation will be sponsoring Five Days of Action for Child Abuse Prevention, a campaign committed to raise awareness and inspire adults to take an active role to protect children from sexual abuse. 

While child protection is our Y’s number one priority every day, this critical campaign will run from April 18th through April 22nd and we will help shine a collective spotlight on how everyone can do something to prevent child sexual abuse. 

Our Y will share information and resources each day to our members and community partners about how adults can prevent, recognize and respond to child sexual abuse situations to keep children safe.

Help us prevent child sexual abuse through Know, See, Respond.  When adults know how abuse happens, see the warning signs, and respond quickly to prevent abuse, they foster a culture of child abuse prevention. Together we can bring awareness to the issue of child sexual abuse in our communities and have important conversations on how we can all work together to prevent it from happening. Please join our YMCA to spread important awareness and resources with your social networks and family and friends around this devastating epidemic.

Our YMCA is proud to have partnered and collaborated with school systems, municipalities and other human service organizations throughout our service area to help bring awareness, education and training regarding this issue. We remain committed to this collaborative cause and our effort to be part of a community-based prevention movement.  

For more information and resources—including training opportunities for your organization, visit our website at hockymca.org/child-protection or email protectkids@hockymca.org

As responsible adults, we need to give children a happy, healthy and safe childhood. Our world needs them, and they need us. Let’s give them the childhood they deserve.    

Jim Downs
CEO, Hockomock Area YMCA

 

Know, See, Respond
Know, See, Respond

Monday, August 23, 2021

MA Dept of Higher Ed: strengthening campus response to sexual assault

MA Dept of Higher Ed (@MassDHE) tweeted Fri, Aug 20, 2021:
"As students return to campus, MA has a new law on the books to strengthen campus response to sexual assault. Details in the new DHE Forward: https://t.co/Hkp01vY9me "

Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/MassDHE/status/1428780159465836549?s=03


As students return to campus, MA has a new law on the books to strengthen campus response to sexual assault
As students return to campus, MA has a new law on the books to strengthen campus response to sexual assault

“The Seven Types of Abuse” - Part 4 of the series

Another episode of “The Seven Types of Abuse”. Check it out now ⬇️⬇️. Or go back ⬅️⬅️ and watch the first three episodes.


All Episodes can also be found on the SAFE Peer to Peer YouTube 📺 channel as well. -> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrkhxAELvHg6_EtYx0HuNhQ/videos

Thursday, July 15, 2021

SAFE Peer to Peer: 7 Types of Abuse - Episode 2


"Over the past couple of months our Peer to Peer Group created, filmed and edited a Mini Video Series about the 7 Types of Abuse as a way to raise awareness about Intimate Partner Violence. 
⬇️ Check out Episode 2 below!
🎯 Tune in each week for a new episode!"
Direct video link =>  https://youtu.be/cK51OBSbGgI 

7 Types of Abuse - Episode 2
7 Types of Abuse - Episode 2
Image shared from Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CRJycjWM2iy/

Monday, March 22, 2021

"the guilty seem to have no capacity even for remorse"

 

"After last week’s exhaustive inquiry by Clive Sheldon QC into how young people in football have been subjected to horrific sexual abuse during 25 years with no child protection, the nation this week will hear from survivors. In the testimony they give to a devastating BBC documentary series, they emphasise a constant theme: that their enforced silence for years did further dreadful damage to them, and how liberating it has been to speak out."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

Saturday, April 4, 2020

In the News: Domestic violence victims are now at home with abusers; Area workers struggle with unemployment

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

Domestic violence victims are now at home with abusers
"Voices Against Violence, a local organization working to end sexual and domestic violence, has new resources that could make it easier for people now forced to stay home with abusive partners to get help.

Because people might not be able to find a safe place within their homes to call the organization’s usual help lines without being monitored or overheard, Voices Against Violence has created a chat service that allows victims to communicate with domestic violence advocates by typing in an internet browser.

The chat service, which can be reached by typing rc.chat/voices into an internet browser, is monitored by staff between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. from Monday through Friday."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20200403/domestic-violence-victims-are-now-at-home-with-abusers-these-local-resources-could-help

For more about Voices Against Violence, visit them on the web 
 https://www.smoc.org/voices-against-violence.php


Area workers struggle with unemployment
"MetroWest and Milford area residents are among the record-breaking 10 million Americans to file unemployment claims the past two weeks.

A record-breaking 10 million Americans have filed unemployment claims in the past two weeks, including 6.6 million last week alone, amid the coronavirus crisis.

Workers in the region have not been immune to the surge in layoffs and furloughs. A record 181,062 Massachusetts residents filed initial claims during the week ending March 28, about a 22% increase over the prior week, according to advance non-seasonally adjusted data the Department of Labor published Thursday.

That new level immediately breaks the record set just one week earlier. During the week ending March 21, 148,452 residents submitted initial claims, roughly 20 times as many as the 7,449 who submitted claims the week earlier."


Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20200403/area-workers-struggle-with-unemployment-after-being-laid-off-during-coronavirus-outbreak

Thursday, December 5, 2019

"We need more age-appropriate remedies"

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"Supporters of bills that would change the consequences teenagers face for sharing explicit images described the current penalties as “draconian,” and urged lawmakers to adopt an approach that focuses on education.

The Judiciary Committee on Tuesday heard testimony on similar bills filed by Gov. Charlie Baker and Franklin Rep. Jeffrey Roy that each propose to change how state law handles cases involving minors sending and receiving sexually explicit messages. Baker’s bill (H 67) would also make it a felony offense for adults to share a sexually explicit image without consent from the person depicted, a practice sometimes referred to as revenge porn.

Under current law, minors who share sexually explicit images among their peers are subject to felony child pornography charges.

Elizabeth Englander, the founder and director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center, said the threat of a felony and its associated consequences can discourage young victims of sexual harassment from seeking an adult’s help if a peer is pressuring them to send nude or explicit photos."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20191204/franklin-lawmaker-jeffrey-roy-proposes-bill-to-change-consequences-teenagers-who-share-explicit-images


The full text of Rep Roy's proposal can be found online  https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H1550   I could not find the text in reference to Gov Baler's proposal. If anyone has the link, please share it.


Friday, April 19, 2019

Ed Hurley: Five Days of Action for Child Abuse Prevention

Once again, our Y, along with YMCAs throughout Massachusetts and across the country will be sponsoring Five Days of Action for Child Abuse Prevention. From April 22nd to April 26th the Hockomock Area YMCA will share information and resources on how to prevent, recognize and respond to situations that adults may encounter.

Statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that 1 in 10 children in the United States are sexually abused before their 18th birthday. Sadly, in over 90% of the cases reported, this abuse happens by someone the child knows and trusts.

While we are placing a special emphasis on this topic during the month of April, child safety and child protection are our Y’s number one priority every single day of the year.

Think of how many children each one of us sees in a day, and contrast that with the knowledge that 1 in 10 of these young people are being robbed of their innocence. Children are supposed to be the hope for a brighter future. As a society we are all faced with the long-term consequences. Child abuse is happening regardless of age, gender, race, religion or socio-economic class. I ask all of you to join with our YMCA in spreading important awareness around this devastating epidemic.

The national theme for this year’s Five Days of Action is Know. See. Respond. As adults we need to Know more, See better and Respond appropriately to protect kids from sexual abuse.

For the past five years our YMCA is proud to have partnered and collaborated with school systems, municipalities and other human service organizations throughout our service area to help bring awareness, education and training regarding this issue to the forefront. We remain committed to this collaborative cause and our effort to be part of a community based prevention movement. Please join us.

For more information, please contact me at the Hockomock Area YMCA or visit our website www.hockymca.org/child-protection for resources, training and how you can be involved. I encourage you to watch a brief video featuring community leaders and advocates for Know. See. Respond., an initiative adopted at our YMCA.

As responsible adults, we all have the opportunity to create a different path for children and to protect their only childhood. We are on this path together, let’s take a step to clear the way for a child.

Ed Hurley
President and CEO
Hockomock Area YMCA






Thursday, September 21, 2017

In the News: Kennedy talks health care; new director at Voices Against Violence

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"Calling the Republican-backed health care bill a piece of “zombie” legislation that will not die, U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III told the Franklin Chamber of Commerce at Dean College Wednesday that this legislation if passed would have a devastating effect on Massachusetts. 
He said that some of the mandatory protections put into place by the Affordable Care Act will be made optional instead. He estimates that there will be a 20-percent spike in premiums that first year, and that 30 to 32 million people will lose healthcare coverage altogether. 
“Pre-existing condition coverage, they might cover you, they might not,” he said of the repeal vote in the Senate slated to take place in 10 days. “The cost of getting covered for pregnancy could go up about roughly $20,000. Substance use disorder similarly would have about a $20,000 increase.” 
Kennedy, D-4th, mentioned that the new bill will essentially leech from states such as Massachusetts, New York, and California, whom have been investing in statewide healthcare for a number of years, and re-distribute those funds to states that haven’t been saving as much or at all."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) 
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20170920/kennedy-talks-healthcare-at-dean-college


"After a few months on the job, Patricia Hohl finds every day both rewarding and challenging. 
As the new director of Voices Against Violence, a Framingham-based nonprofit that serves victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence, she listens to tough stories each day. Then she and her staff figure out how to help and protect their clients. 
“It sounds like a cliché, but it truly means a lot to me to make a difference in my own community. It’s just something I believe in as a human being,” said Hohl, who took over as director in June. She replaced Mary Gianakis, who led the agency for two decades. 
The goal of the agency is to prevent domestic violence and sexual abuse, and help survivors forge a new life. All services are free and confidential."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) 
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20170920/voices-against-violence-welcomes-new-director

Voices Against Violence, a Framingham-based nonprofit that serves victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence
Voices Against Violence, a Framingham-based nonprofit that serves victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence