Local groups bring grassroots child sexual abuse prevention campaign to Nevada

For the most part, the days of “stranger danger” — the fear that an unknown assailant will sexually assault a victim — are behind us.

It only accounts for a small percentage of cases today, yet it was the focus of many past preventive campaigns.

“The nation has grown, and we’ve gotten to the point where we know children are more likely to be abused by someone they know,” said Daniele Dreitzer, executive director of The Rape Crisis Center, 801 S. Rancho Drive.

However, what people are less willing to think about, she said, is a potential abuser being someone from their social circle.

Though the center will continue to offer support for victims of sexual abuse, it wants to look at another frontier — preventing abuse altogether. To achieve that goal, it has partnered with Prevent Child Abuse Nevada to bring the Enough Abuse Campaign to Nevada.

Amanda Haboush-Deloye, associate director and director of programs for Prevent Child Abuse Nevada, was familiar with the national campaign when she recommended it as the best choice for Nevada.

“It focuses on evidence-based curriculum,” she said.

The Enough Abuse Campaign has been introduced in a few states and provides anyone from parents to youth-serving organizations with education and training on preventing child sexual abuse.

Together, the two groups worked to secure a grant in order to bring it to Nevada. The campaign has offered multiple “train the trainer” seminars, going over a variety of information. Those trainers then go out to train other groups. It expanded efforts to Northern Nevada this year.

It is currently looking at other groups it can reach out to, from nursing students to after-school programs.

The campaign isn’t designed to scare parents, Haboush-Deloye added, but rather to make people aware of things happening and adopt best practices to prevent future abuse. For organizations that work with youths, it could be enforcing “no hug” policies between staff members and children or making sure if there is a group of children of a single gender, there is at least one chaperone of the same gender.

It could also involve setting up a system that gives workers comfortability to comment if they see leaders not embracing the policies.

For parents, it could be creating a sense of awareness that they can respond if they see uncomfortable interactions between children and adults.

“It might not be happening in your house,” Haboush-Deloye said. “It could be happening at your neighbor’s.”

In addition to knowing what to look for, the Enough Abuse Campaign also teaches people how to respond correctly.

“The only thing worse than the abuse is going to an adult and not having them believe you or respond inappropriately,” Dreitzer said.

She said a campaign such as Enough Abuse works even better when states take initiative to enact policies that strengthen prevention methods. She added that Nevada has taken strides.

There have been efforts to teach children age-appropriate lessons on boundaries and safety. At the 2015 Nevada legislative session, the Legislature approved an initiative to have such curriculum in every school by 2020.

“But it shouldn’t be on children (to take action),” Dreitzer said, adding that the nation is starting to look more in-depth at prevention methods.

But there is more that could be done, she said.

“My favorite analogy has been funding for Zika,” Dreitzer said. While the virus is horrible, she said it hasn’t had the same effects as child abuse when you look at the numbers.

“There are 13 million children under the age of 18 who have been affected by sexual abuse,” she said. “We have never talked about putting a billion dollars into child sexual abuse protection.”

Visit rcclv.org.

To reach Henderson View reporter Michael Lyle, email mlyle@viewnews.com or call 702-387-5201. Find him on Twitter: @mjlyle.