Every year we serve hundreds of victims of sexual assault at the Sex Abuse Treatment Center (SATC). More than half are children. We know first hand the tremendous toll abuse takes on young lives, and the devastating mental, emotional and behavioral consequences of victimization.

Child sexual abuse is a serious public health issue. Research indicates that about 20 percent of children will experience some form of sexual abuse by age 18, a greater risk than posed by other major childhood health challenges, including autism (0.9 percent of children); asthma (13 percent of children) and obesity (16.9 percent of children). As a state, we must acknowledge the sobering reality of child sexual abuse and act to protect our children from a crime that robs them of a healthy future.

Unfortunately, a key strategy to protect our children from sexual abuse is in danger of disappearing. This successful prevention program is SATC’s school-based curricula and teacher training program. In 2008, SATC shifted its educational approach from using its small staff to teach sexual abuse prevention in Oahu schools to training teachers statewide to deliver SATC’s curricula in their classrooms. Training teachers allowed us to expand educational capacity in Hawaii schools and reach thousands of children in kindergarten to 12th grade.

School-based education is a lifeline for child victims. In nearly all child sexual abuse cases the abuser is someone in the child’s life who uses intimidation, threats or manipulation to force the child to keep the abuse a secret. Tragically, many child victims suffer in silence, shame and self-blame. However, receiving classroom instruction on safe and unsafe touching encourages some of these silent children to tell someone. The curriculum focuses on body pride and ownership, and how to recognize unsafe touching of private parts. Students learn that unsafe touching is never a child’s fault, and that they can tell someone they trust (including school staff) if it happens to them.

SATC’s curriculum for older children and teens focuses on topics such as asserting and respecting personal boundaries in peer relationships, sexual harassment prevention, how to stay safe from Internet predators and how to develop safe, respectful relationships.

More than 450 teachers have now been trained on the SATC curricula, which includes four separate age-appropriate curricula (kindergarten-second; third-fifth; middle and high school). Demand remains high for more training and technical consultation. Teachers frequently express the need for this type of education and their satisfaction with how easily the curriculum can be incorporated into their classroom teaching. It is aligned with Hawaii’s Health Education standards and approved by the state Department of Education.

Also important, the curricula have been rigorous evaluated under the direction of Charlene Baker, Ph.D, University of Hawaii, Department of Psychology. Recently released results from the evaluation of our high school curriculum show that it effectively increases student knowledge about sexual violence and resources for victims, reduces victim-blaming attitudes and increases the likelihood of teens taking action to promote respectful behavior.

We are deeply grateful to the Higgins Family Foundation who partnered with SATC to develop the curricula and to launch the teacher training program. With their generosity and vision, we have reached many of our goals and have built a strong foundation.

Now our top priority is to keep this critically important program alive. Unless funding can be secured, our teacher training and consultation will end in nine months. We look to the community to recognize the incalculable value of this program for our young people and to fund it. It is truly a lifeline for child victims and an immensely important tool to teach the young how to navigate life safely and respectfully.