7 Child Abuse Prevention Tips from a Trauma Survivor
inspired by Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) Month
What if my innocence hadn’t been taken away from me so young? What if I had grown up without the impact of abuse? What if I had felt safe enough to talk to my parents or a trusted adult?
Being sexually abused by an uncle from around four years old until my early tween years shaped and changed my life forever. Although I’ve grown to love who I am, I will never know the person I could have been.
As a survivor of ongoing child abuse (complex trauma) and growing up around domestic violence, my advice to caregivers are in these seven tips.
Be that safe and supportive space.
Have open communication.
Teach body boundaries.
Model healthy relationships.
Educate yourself about child abuse prevention.
Address your own unresolved trauma.
Create positive childhood experiences to help outweigh the negative.
I realize these tips may be challenging for many. The topic of child abuse is hard to talk about for most. It will likely involve doing your own healing work and bravely breaking the cycle of generational trauma within your own family systems.
However uncomfortable it may feel to face or challenging the work, child abuse can be prevented. Caregiver or not, prevention is the responsible thing to do for the sake of protecting children.
I am forever impacted by my childhood, as we all are. Thankfully, I had positive childhood experiences mixed in with the ongoing trauma.
It’s been a long, hard road to reach recovery from mental, emotional and physiological symptoms. The work to maintain recovery continues daily. Although I’m in a place of wellness now in my midlife years, I wouldn’t wish this lifelong healing journey on anyone or anything.
My hope is that one day abuse never happens in the first place, because in truth childhood lasts a lifetime.
Give to my CAP Month fundraiser - trying to raise money to print 2500 body safety bookmarks for Prevent Child Abuse RI.
My favorite child abuse prevention resources: