By Michele Louviere, Director of Counseling Celebration Church, Metairie
An important task in the prevention of sexual abuse is talking to your children about their bodies and their rights at an early age, even as young as 3.
Michele Louviere, director of counseling, Celebration Church, Metairie
Question: I am a sexual abuse survivor and I do not want my children to be abused. What can I do as a parent to prevent sexual abuse?
Michelle Louviere responds: Understanding sexual abuse is a must for parents today. Instead of decreasing, sexual abuse is epidemic and continues to increase, in part because of the internet.
Certainly learning all that you can about sexual abuse, such as the warning signs, and trying to avoid as much one-on-one unsupervised exposure to other people are ways that you can help prevent your child from experiencing sexual abuse.
An important task in the prevention of sexual abuse is talking to your children about their bodies and their rights at an early age, even as young as 3. Parents need to let their children know that it is okay to talk to them when they feel uncomfortable or confused. Parents need to make sure that children’s feelings are respected and taken seriously.
Since more than 25 percent of victims of child abuse are children younger than 8, start talking early and often about the following concepts. First, parents need to let their children know that their bodies are special and good, deserving care and respect, which is certainly God’s view of our bodies as His temples.
Parents need to talk about private body parts and be comfortable with their proper names.
Secondly, parents need to express to their child that grown-ups and older children should not “play” with a child’s private parts, and stress that grown-ups don’t need to help with private parts, and certainly not secretly.
Third, parents need to tell their children that grown-ups and older children do not need help from children with their private body parts. Make sure that if someone ever asks for that kind of help that the child knows to immediately come and tell. Parents need to stress that the child would not be in trouble if the child came and told about someone showing or asking the child to touch a private body part.
Fourth, parents need to explain that surprises, like parties, are good, but secrets are not good for children. Secrets may keep a child from being safe, so secrets need to be told.
Finally, parents need to stress that their child is special and deserves to be treated with love and respect. Children who have a strong sense of self and how special they are to God may be less likely to be targeted by an offender.
Parents should focus on building healthy relationships with their children that are safe and close, so their children will be able to talk about any concerns.
For more information about preventing child abuse, go to www.enoughabuse.org. God hates abuse, and we need to work hard to stop this epidemic in our society.
Michele Louviere, LMFT, serves as Clinical Director of Celebration Hope Center, a ministry of Healing Hearts for Community Development (HHCD). To learn more, go to
www.HealingHeartsNola.org.