LIVID

Conference aims to normalize pedophilia

There is so much in the article linked above that pisses me off, and makes me want to throw up. Seriously.


I'm only going to talk about part of it though:

Berlin has similarly compared society’s reaction to pedophilia to that of homosexuality prior to the landmark 2003 Lawrence v. Texas decision that decriminalized sodomy.

B4U-ACT’s own website puts Berlin’s views front and center. “Just as has been the case historically with homosexuality,” he writes, “society is currently addressing the matter of pedophilia with a balance that is far more heavily weighted on the side of criminal justice solutions than on the side of mental health solutions.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/08/15/conference-aims-to-normalize-pedophilia/#ixzz1VDNBqUFw


I've read over the article a few times, and what I believe the premise is, is that they wish to de-classify Pedophilia as a mental illness. Of course my first reaction is SERIOUSLY? - I mean how can it not be an illness? But I'll put my emotions aside for a minute... well, I'll try to anyway. What bother's me though is that they say ( as I've quoted above ) that society's reaction to pedophilia is to that of homosexuality prior to 2003.  Okay.. STOP .. Really? Last I knew, homosexuality was between two consenting adults. Right? Sure, people took issue with it because it was against the norm.. but sex with a non-consenting person was still rape, still abuse, still AGAINST THE LAW. How can a child consent to sex? How does a child even know what sex is? How can pedophilia be NORMAL? I'm shaking my head.. I just don't get it. I really don't. 


.. and I bet you don't either.. but you know what? If we don't do anything about it, it will become the norm, and our children will be abused, their innocence taken, their ability to love and to trust taken from them before they even know that there are people in the world that they can't love or trust!


Are you with me?


More to come.. I hope soon to share some news with you about how I'll be working within the NH community to stop Childhood Sexual Abuse.


~ Suz

Stop It Now Awareness to Action Webinar

The Stop it Now organization held a Webinar today entitled "Awareness to Action What adults can do to prevent Childhood Sexual Abuse".  Although I wasn't able to listen to it in it's entirety, I caught a bit of it at the end. A common theme was boundaries - making sure that we help to create and respect appropriate boundaries for our children. Boundaries such as privacy when dressing, bathing, sleeping or physical contact such as kissing, hugging and tickling.  As adults we need to respect our children when they say "No" to such things and teach them that it is appropriate to do so.  As an example, when I'm tickling Diana to craziness, and she says stop it! I need to respect that - because it shows her that when she says stop it, or No - that she is establishing a boundary, and that boundary will be abided. Something to think about - especially when I try to get her to kiss or hug people she really doesn't want to kiss or hug ( A handshake would do fine!). As she said to me once "It's my Body, mommy, - My Rules". She's right..

Other things that were discussed were that we should be suspicious of people keeping secrets with our children, or wanting to spend allot of time with them. It's okay for an adult to spend time with our children - but make sure that you are supervising. Also, the discussion with our children about touching, and personal boundaries is an ongoing one - it's not just one "Big Talk". ( as I discovered in a previous post).

Most importantly, if we work on changing the norms so that boundaries are respected, and that we call people on their behaviour when breaking these boundaries we are able to create change. It will become the norm.

When they publish the Webinar, I'll be sure to share the link! Definitely interesting information - and check out their site!!

~ Suz

Excited!!!

I met with someone at SASSNH today and am so excited! Going in, I thought I would volunteer in the schools, but I think I'm going to help them with their software systems and social media! The woman I spoke with told me that they were just discussing how they needed help in that area.. It was fate for me to walk through that door :)

I am going to go through the same intensive training that the advocates do, and may even volunteer as an advocate down the road. I'm just so excited to help and get involved and to learn even more about this issue. I know I will have a million ideas swirling around my head once I get in there and start looking at what they have for systems, and what kind of information there is that we would want to use social media for. And get this - the whole team is training to run the Seacoast half marathon and raise money for SASS! I may just have to take on another race this fall :)

~ Suz

We can end this!

SASSNH - or Sexual assault support services of NH - offers workshops for children k-5, teaching them about personal body safety. I'm excited to tell you that Friday I am meeting with them to talk about being one of the volunteers that goes into the school systems to provide this service!

~ Just another person trying to make a difference,
Suz <3