Adults are responsible for creating and sustaining safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments where children can grow up healthy and reach their full potential. It is possible to ensure that every child, in every community, never experiences sexual abuse if prevention strategies are thoughtfully incorporated into all aspects of society by governments, businesses, nonprofits, community organizations and individuals.
Creating a Colorado Where Children Grow Up Free From Sexual Abuse: An Issue Brief on the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse in Colorado examines data and trends related to child sexual abuse in Colorado, highlights efforts to prevent this trauma and presents recommendations to advance prevention statewide.
Across Colorado, and in our own backyards, child sexual abuse is a major public health concern which must be addressed as a core element of child safety and family well-being. However, it can be difficult to confront the problem because child sexual abuse is vastly underreported. Almost 73% of child victims don’t disclose their abuse to anyone for at least one year, 45% don’t tell anyone for almost five years, and many never disclose at all.1
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the previous five years, the number of children who have been sexually abused had steadily risen in Colorado.2 From January 2014 through December 2020, more than 7,400 children in Colorado have been identified as having been sexually abused.2 In 2020 alone, a year when reports of child maltreatment were dramatically down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent quarantine and stay-at-home orders, over 1,000 children were substantiated as victims of child sexual abuse through the child welfare system in Colorado, which doesn’t account for all of the children who have not yet been identified.4
TAKE ACTION: Create a Colorado Where Children Grow Up Free From Sexual Abuse
It is incumbent upon this generation of Coloradans to protect the next by educating themselves on how to create safer communities where everyone is actively thinking about how to prevent children from being sexually abused. This is an opportunity to put the responsibility back where it belongs, with adults, and give all Coloradans the skills they need to protect children and create communities where children have the opportunity to grow up healthy, happy and safe by taking action through the following set of recommendations.
Key Findings
- Less than half of parents (47%) say they typically use anatomically correct terms
- When informed that using these terms is a way to prevent child sexual abuse, 71% of parents said they would consider using anatomical terms.
- It is particularly important to reach men aged 18-54 with this information given that less than half of men (42%) reported using the proper terms
We’ve repeatedly heard stories that affirm the need to have clear and thoughtful ongoing conversations with children, starting before they are even verbal. Sex offenders report that when children used the proper words for their private parts, it was a deterrent. They knew those kids were having open conversations with trusted adults,” said Margaret M. Ochoa, child sexual abuse prevention specialist with the Colorado Department of Public Safety and cochair of the Colorado Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Coalition.
Awareness & Social Norms
RECOMMENDATION 1: Fund strategic multi-year public awareness campaigns reaching all Coloradans to shift the norms related to child sexual abuse prevention by:
• Raising awareness among all adults of the need to model consent, healthy touch and safe, respectful ways to interact with children;
• Raising awareness among parents of the need to use anatomically correct terms with children; and
• Raising awareness among parents and caregivers of the positive norm of having ongoing conversations about healthy development.
Training & Practice
RECOMMENDATION 2: Train adults on their collective responsibility to promote healthy child development and prevent, recognize and respond to child sexual abuse by:
• Promoting training to parents, caregivers, professionals and community members to become better equipped to promote healthy development and prevent, recognize, and respond to child sexual abuse;
• Institutionalizing training with early childhood professionals to deepen understanding of healthy childhood development to be inclusive of sexual development;
• Collaborating with various communities impacted by disproportionate rates of child sexual abuse and counties with higher combined six-year rates of child sexual abuse; and
• Increasing knowledge of parents, caregivers, professionals and community members to identify and address vulnerable situations and environments involving older youth or youth in a position of power.
Training & Practice
RECOMMENDATION 3: Expand learning opportunities to support adults in building skills and confidence in approaching conversations about child sexual abuse prevention by:
• Integrating the formation of language, scripting, and practice into training courses
when appropriate to include terms and phrases adults can use when having discussions with family, friends, neighbors, and community members on creating safe environments and
• Expanding access to opportunities for families, including training and resources, on
having conversations with children on healthy development and sexuality of power.
Policy & Systemic Recommendations
RECOMMENDATION 4: Continue to identify, engage in, and support policies and system improvements to prevent initial occurrence or reoccurence of child sexual abuse by:
• Supporting organizations that serve children and youth in identifying needed policy changes to prevent child sexual abuse;
• Building the five “Protective Factors” in and around all families;
• Expanding comprehensive sexual education in Colorado as an additional means to prevent child sexual abuse;
• Promoting coordinated and innovative research efforts to better understand the incidence and prevalence of child sexual abuse in Colorado; and
• Continuing the Colorado Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Coalition.
During my 30 years serving children and families, I have developed a deep appreciation and understanding of community prevention efforts to reduce child abuse. Child sexual abuse is among the most egregious events that can happen to a child, and the report released today by Illuminate Colorado provides new insights into what we all can do to help prevent such tragedies. The Office of Colorado’s Child Protection Ombudsman is appreciative of the information gathered by Illuminate and supports their recommendation of investing in strategies that can build strong community awareness around this issue.
Tip Colorado
Together, we can reach a tipping point in Colorado where children grow up happy, healthy and safe in communities that prevent children from experiencing sexual abuse.
If enough adults in a community take a FREE two-hour interactive online training then, together, we can create a new standard of child safety in your community and throughout Colorado.
Facilitator Spotlight: Sharon Eberhard
Get to know Sharon Eberhard, a child sexual abuse prevention training facilitator!
