Dear Editor
O a regular basis, the news and social media sites are often filled with stories about sexual assault (SA) and harassment. Against this backdrop, the need for enhanced conversations on these issues are often encouraged. While it is acknowledged that children and young adults should be engaged in discussions surrounding sexual health and abuse, however, many still remain resistant to actually equipping them with information on these topics. There remains the belief that providing information to children on the various components of sex will encourage deviant behaviours, but the opposite effect is often the case.

In ChildLinK’s recent “Caring for Boys,” research, it was found that parents often neglected to have conversations about sexual health and rights with their children, often leaving them ill prepared to navigate the realities of their social environments. In cases where these conversations did occur, they were primarily done with young girls rather than boys. Caretakers tended to view girls as the only ones vulnerable to SA and as such, were equipped with information about sex in order for them to “protect” themselves. Boys were generally seen as immune to SA, with established societal concepts surrounding masculinity positioning them as being the leaders of sex, and as such, were believed to not necessarily require information.

These beliefs can be extremely harmful as it buys into gendered notions that restricts children and sends them out ill prepared. Equipping children, regardless of gender with information about sexual health, and abuse will ensure that they are better able to identify those with abusive tendencies, and also more open to sharing their experiences with relevant persons and authorities if they are abused. It will also ensure that they have a good understanding of their bodies and the ways that they can protect themselves, while building their self-esteem.

Akola Thompson
Communications Consultant, ChildLinK
To report or seek counselling, please call 914/227-0979/227-2023/233-3500