After Ten Years, A Tough Question

With this newsletter, STOP IT NOW! celebrates ten years of successful work at reaching abusers, people at risk for abusing, and people who know them, motivating them to call for information and for help. When we were founded in 1992, many people believed that strangers committed sexual abuse and that adult survivors, confused by therapists, made up stories of childhood abuse.

We knew differently: that sexual abuse is a widespread public health problem affecting one in five girls and one in seven to ten boys. We knew that the vast majority of abuse was not reported to authorities and that the majority of abusers were not expected to stop before they started or held accountable for what they
had done.

Ten years ago, nearly every person who heard about our goals expressed skepticism with the question, “Will an abuser call and come forward for help?” That question became our central, testable hypothesis. We worked through our Internet site at www.stopitnow.org and with partner organizations: in Vermont with the Safer Society Foundation; in Philadelphia with the Joseph J. Peters Institute; in Minnesota with Project Pathfinder; and in the United Kingdom and Ireland with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation.

STOP IT NOW! can answer yes because of evaluations of our work, some conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We can attest to abusers holding themselves accountable because of the hundreds of people who have abused and people with the potential to abuse who have called our helpline for guidance. Family and friends of abusers have sought advice from our helpline, too. In those places where our campaign has gotten the message out, adults will seek help to change dangerous and harmful behavior.

Long-time readers of this newsletter will recall progress reports sharing our successes and what we have learned. That’s why we are struck by the question, much more fundamental, facing STOP IT NOW! for the years ahead. We have demonstrated that positive and hopeful change is possible. We are prepared to take these ideas to a much wider audience. But foundations, individual donors, and public agencies seem to have a very difficult time investing in a public health framework.

As a society, we spend 25 million federal dollars every year to maintain registries of nearly 400,000 known sex offenders across the country. Knowing about these offenders is important, but every single offender means a person has already been victimized. How can we make perpetrator prevention a priority without cutting back on services to victims? As a result of STOP IT NOW!’s steady policy work with the CDC, the agency recently released a modest, first-ever Request for Applications for prevention programs that are perpetrator-focused. We take heart at the progress, but have so far to go.

STOP IT NOW! has answered the question positively whether or not people at risk for abusing will come forward for help. The question for STOP IT NOW!’s future—and ultimately for society’s future—is, “Will society encourage abusers, those at risk to abuse, and family members to come forward for help, rather than waiting for children to be harmed and then trying to heal them after the harm has been done?”

You can help us to celebrate our ten years by answering that question with your own “Yes!” And if you can help link STOP IT NOW! to people who might support our messages of positive change and plans for prevention, please contact Fran Henry through email at fhenry@stopitnow.org or at 413 268 3096 x11.

Time For Appreciation of Staff and Volunteers

Anniversaries provide time for reflection. What has been the key to success for STOP IT NOW!’s work for ten years? The people behind the programs. STOP IT NOW! strives for excellence in its work—our dynamic eleven person board of directors keeps the organization on its toes. STOP IT NOW! learns from everything it does—our eighteen member expert panel provides us with insights we would never capture on our own. STOP IT NOW! has become known for the depth and quality of our programs—our staff in the national office and staff in the STOP IT NOW! sites bring their very best hearts and minds to our workplace of ideas and action.

STOP IT NOW! is grateful for every volunteer and staff member, past and present. Together with our donors and grantors, we have created a fundamentally new way to deal with the sexual abuse of children. With each helpful staffer, volunteer, or supporter we take pride in the positive changes resulting from a decade of effort.