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Parents and Child
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OUR MISSION
IFORMATION 		EFFECTS of MOLEST
WHO MAY BENEFIT 		TEACHERS
EIGHT LESSONS 		WHAT TO DO
WHAT IS MOLESTATION
Molestation is any contact between an adult and a child or an older child and a younger child which results in sexual gratification for the older person.   This includes not only inappropriate touching of genitals but: exposure, rape, verbal abuse and pornography.

1 in 3 girls and 1 in 4 boys are sexually abused before their 18th birthday.
22% of those before the age of 5 and 58% before the age of 10.
A child does not have to be touched to be molested.

The offender is usually not a stranger, but someone close to the child, a family member or close family friend.  Molest occurs equally among all races and religions, regardless of economic status or level of education, although currently 80% of all offenders are males and 20% are females.

AN INTRODUCTION
When you know that one in three girls and one in four boys are sexually abused by the time thay are eighteen, then think of how many children live in the United States, it becomes clear how widespread this problem has become.  It is an issue people do not want to believe occurs, in spite of the accuracy of statistics since the establishment of mandatory reporting laws.

This type of abuse continues to increase because it becomes a cycle passed on from generation to generation, as children tend to do what they have been taught.  When they learn sexual acts at an early age, they don't know this isn't normal, as children will do anything to please the people they love.  That's why children make the best victims.

Without receiving help, as these children become older, stress may cause them to seek control and power over their lives, and they may themselves become offenders or lifelong victims.  Molest causes both short and long-term harm to its victims that is revealed in a variety of ways, impacting the entire family along with the child.

Currently, children wait an average of seven years before they have the courage to tell, so most children and their families are still not receiving the help they need soon enough.