More often than not, we teach our children all sorts of ways to keep themselves safe ranging from personal hygiene to keeping good relationships but little is done in educating them about body safety. According to the research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that approximately 1 in 6 boys and 1 in 4 girls are sexually abused before the age of 18.
Below are tips on how to prevent themselves from sexual abuse:
Let them learn about parts of the body
Teach and name parts of the body to them at an early stage. Use the right names for body parts. Many have misguided their children at an early stage because they feel some parts are too early to be taught. When they feel uncomfortable or being abused in those parts, they won’t be able to give appropriate name to the part where something had happened.
Make them understand that some parts are private to them alone
As parents, it is important we tell our child/children that some parts are ‘’private’’ because they are not meant for everyone. Explain to them that mom and dad (Depending on the gender and age) can see them but it’s not meant for everyone as it is called private parts and should be exclusive to them alone and their parents/guardians.
Define body boundaries to them
As a matter of fact, teach them that their private parts should not be touched by anybody and they should not touch someone else's private parts. Parents often forget that sexual abuse starts with perpetrators asking your child to touch their private part or someone else.
Body secrets should be made open
Perpetrators always hide under the guise of threatening your child to keep secrets as secrets. It often starts with languages like ‘’I love being around you’’, ‘’I love your mild skin’’, ‘’I love touching you’’, ‘’I love you’’, and so on. Perpetrators always give a stern warning that they should keep these sayings as secrets even to their parents. It is strongly advised as parents that we should tell them that no matter what anyone tells them, they should not keep body secrets to chest as that could mark the genesis of being abused sexually.
If these tips are strictly followed, they can reduce their vulnerability to sexual abuse.
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Nwajei Babatunde
Content creator for Vanaplus Group.