What You Can Do to Help Protect Your Children from Sexual Abuse 

Download BCAC's Safety Plan to help prepare your family 

  • Maintain open lines of communication with your children.  Explain the difference between secrets that they can keep and secrets that they should share.  Encourage them to tell you immediately if an adult or older child asks them not to tell you something.  If it’s a good secret, you can assure them that you won’t tell anyone either.
  • Teach children about their bodies and which parts are considered “private.”  Tell them that others do not have the right to touch their private parts, and give them appropriate names for these parts so you can know what they are talking about.
  • Be aware of situations that may put your child at risk for sexual abuse.  If your children indicate that they are uncomfortable in someone’s presence, gently probe them for the reasons.
  • Be wary of situations where your children may be alone and unsupervised when spending time with an adult or a much older child.  Keep in mind that most children know their abusers.

 

What You Can Do to Help Your Community

Take a stand - speak out about preventing child sexual abuse. BCAC's Executive Director Adam Rosenberg speaks out about child sexual abuse prevention. To read the article posted on The Open Society Institute's website click here.

Friend us on Facebook and join our Cause. Let your friends know you are taking a stand against abuse.

Look up your neighbood on the internet and use Maryland's Sex Offender Registry: http://www.socem.info or call Maryland's toll-free Sex Offender Alert Line at 1-866-559-8017, where you can sign up for telephone notification any time a registered sex offender moves in your area.

Invite the Baltimore Child Abuse Center to present to your organization or group about prevention.  Send us an email to invite us.

Become trained in how to prevent child sexual abuse. Starting this summer, BCAC will be running monthly training sessions to empower our community and get a message of prevention out throughout Baltimore.  Send us an email to learn more.

Become an Advocate for BCAC and children.

Donate - your time, your in kind gifts, your contributions all further our mission and ability to help children.