While we are still in the euphoria of children’s day celebration, it’s important to take a shot at teaching these treasures how to take care of themselves against sexual molesters.

It’s true most parents often teach their children all sorts of ways to keep themselves safe- ranging from telling not take what does not belong to them, making them to watch the hot gas cooker, to look both ways before crossing the roads, the list is endless; but most times, never about the child’s body safety. Teachings on this always come much later when they are older which sometimes comes too late. 

According to research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), it estimated that approximately 1 in 6 boys and 1 in 4 girls are sexually abused before the age of 18, and almost all of them knew their perpetrators.

No one particular race, culture, religion or socio-economic group is spared when it has to do with child sexual abuse. Although there’s no foolproof way of protecting them from sexual abuse, but there are actually steps you can take to reduce the risk. As it’s very glaring these days, sexual molesters are everywhere, they can strike at any time, and they come in different shapes/sizes/friendly/unfriendly.

Most parents often say it cannot happen to their children  because they will never expose them to strangers. Here are a few questions for you- Do you have friends or family come over to your house? Do they play at the neighbour’s house? Do your children go to sleep over? Are they in day care/pre- school?

The simple truth is that you cannot fully prevent the risk of your child being sexually abused but you can teach them what to do to prevent them being victimized when they go out or interact with those around them. Below are some likely precautions you can take to gauge the situation/putting an end to the abuse.

Start that conversation – Having a straight conversation about body parts can go a long way in protecting the children without scaring them off. Talk about body parts early, name body parts as it’s never too soon to talk about them while they are still very young. Always use the right names for the different body parts. Sweet-coated names are not allowed. Feeling comfortable using the proper names and knowing what they mean can give them the ability to come to you when something is wrong and help them talk clearly if something inappropriate has happened.

Let them know that some body parts are private – Tell him/her that their private parts are called private because they are not for everyone to see. Gently explain to them that only mummy and daddy can see them naked up to a certain age; but outsiders like relatives, friends/strangers are not allowed. 

Teach your child body boundaries – That under no circumstance should any one touch their private parts, and also no one should ask them to touch somebody else’s private parts. This second part is very important because sexual abuse often begins with the molester asking the child to touch them or someone else.