Stop It Now!'s Work with CDC Offers New Insights

A Project on Risk Factors

Who is at risk to sexually abuse children? What protective factors mitigate against abusing? STOP IT NOW! has joined with scientists to answer those questions.

In the mid-1990’s, NOW! realized that researchers had identified factors that put certain children at risk for being sexually victimized. No one had identified risk or protective factors for people at risk to abuse. STOP IT NOW! needed this information to design effective programs to prevent abuse before it occurs. We conducted research through focus groups with people who had abused, produced a list of “warning signs” that signal possible danger, and disseminated the information through informational brochures and media campaigns. We knew that more information might be available if we expanded the scope of our research.

In 2001 we convened the research project with the Division of Violence Prevention of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. We jointly decided to report on the known literature on risk and protective factors published primarily in English from January 1992 through December 2001. We named the project “Risk and Protective Factors for the Initiation of Perpetration of the Sexual Abuse of Children.”

Five CDC scientists and two STOP IT NOW! staff are joined by researchers in the field of sexual violence. The researchers include Pamela McMahon of Tulane University in New Orleans, Karl Hanson of the Solicitor General’s office in Canada, Gail Ryan of the Kempe Center, Colorado, and Keith Kaufman of Portland State University in Oregon. The CDC team, led by Dan Whitaker, has conducted thorough searches in the medical, psychological, sociological, criminal justice and child welfare literature. The first report from the scientists is expected in the fall of 2003. Alisa Klein, Director of Public Policy, coordinates the project for STOP IT NOW!. For answers to questions, please call her at extension 18 or reach her by email at aklein@stopitnow.org.

Health Consequences of Sexual Abuse

The immediate and long-term health consequences of being victimized sexually as a child are well documented for social workers, psychologists, or people who work in the criminal justice system. Physicians do not have ready access to this information because studies linking childhood sexual abuse and social and physical illness are not synthesized in the medical literature. The extensive studies linking or correlating sexual abuse with illness have not led to prevention. The scale of the problem and the response are disconnected.

“Documenting the health consequences of sexual abuse is not enough. We are taking the next step to get the information into the hands of people who can use it for treatment and prevention.”

Pamela McMahon, Chair, NOW! Board of Directors

STOP IT NOW! convened a research project in 2001 with scientists at the CDC to bring this information to the medical field. Hundreds of studies have been searched and nearly 150 abstracted by Reshma Mahendra and staff at CDC. James Mercy, Associate Director for Science at the Division of Violence Prevention, oversees the project for the CDC. Lucy Berliner, researcher and clinician and David Chadwick, researcher and retired pediatrician, helped construct the working hypotheses of the project and provide advice on using the data. We expect to find more evidence for health outcomes that are correlated to sexual abuse rather than caused by sexual abuse.

When the large-scale analysis is complete, we plan to offer a model to explain how child sexual abuse is linked to consequences, make suggestions to physicians about how to use the information in their practices with patients, and introduce prevention concepts. Please call Fran Henry at STOP IT NOW!, extension 11, or email at fhenry@stopitnow.org for further information.

STOP IT NOW! on CD-ROM

STOP IT NOW! will be featured in a CD-ROM produced by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of their CDCynergy series. The series is one of CDC’s most popular health communications planning tools. The interactive CD-ROM helps public health professionals systematically plan health communication programs and campaigns. The CD-ROM will focus on violence prevention and will be available Fall 2003.

NOW! on Oprah

STOP IT NOW! was represented by Fran Henry on The Oprah Winfrey Show on February 25th. Fran was called upon to be an expert on the topic of how community notification laws help or hinder the prevention of child sexual abuse. Oprah used the show to interview a person who had sexually offended, had served time in prison, and had made a commitment to healthy living once back in the community. Generation Five, a San Francisco-based organization, was also featured on the program. Gen5 works closely with STOP IT NOW! on media projects.