Sexual Abuse Information
Where to Find Help: If you have experienced sexual abuse or assault, you are not alone, and help is available. Many of the damaging effects of sexual abuse and assault can be treated. Healing is possible! To find help in your area, please visit the “Where to Get Help” page of the Darkness to Light website.
Sexual abuse and assault happen at an alarming rate. Many sources estimate that one in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused by the time they reach age 18.
If these statistics were about a virus, we would be calling it a public health epidemic. Because sexual abuse and assault affect people’s mental and emotional health, many believe that this is a public health epidemic.
Yet in spite of the millions of people who are affected by this problem, our culture is still not speaking about sexual abuse and assault or responding to it in meaningful or effective ways. This must change. In order to end sexual abuse and assault, we must break the silence.
Please learn about sexual abuse and assault and do your part to break the silence. Contact your favorite news program and tell them you want to hear more about this issue. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Call in to radio talk shows. Talk to the people you know, and make sure the children in your life know what sexual abuse is and that if it happens to them or someone they know, they should tell a trusted adult.
At the top of this page is a little horn. That horn is for you. Take it, squeeze it, and make some noise.
Here are some resources to help get you started: