April is Sexual Assault Prevention Month.

Saturday, April 01, 2000

April is Sexual Assault Prevention Month. It is also Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Either one is a crisis, but combined, they amount to an extremity of violence and pain.

Not only are there primary victims, but there are those standing in the shadows. Children of violence and pain.

Concerned citizens aim to do something about it.

Representatives of local law enforcement, the Mower County Department of Human Services and victims’ resource agencies held a news conference Thursday morning to announce an awareness and education effort in April.

Chere Miller, the new sexual assault community advocate at the Crime Victims Resource Center announced the kick off of community awareness plans beginning with an advertising blitz.

Her practical advice for those involved in violent situations, that include children, was to "Stay calm and keep your emotions under control. Don’t react with shock, anger or disbelief. Your emotions can be very confusing for the child."

Also Miller said, "Be honest. this is not a secret we can keep."

And, Miller encouraged, "Don’t investigate yourself. there are professionals, who are specifically trained to listen to a child for their best interest. Revictimizing the child is not the goal."

Maryanne Law, speaking for the Crisis Nursery, told about the short-term emergency service available to infants and children for up to 72 hours.

Law said there are 17 volunteer homes, plus the Catherwood Child Care Center, available to families.

Law also told about an innovative national violence prevention training effort entitled "Reducing Bias and Promoting Respect."

The Harvard Partnership for Preventing Violence will offer a satellite teleconference at Riverland Community College, 10:15 a.m. – 3:15 p.m. Friday, April 14.

Registration is $10 and includes lunch.

According to Law, the teleconference will help participants understand the interrelationships between bias, hate and violence.

Also, participants will utilize the spectrum of prevention to develop strategies that foster environments of respect.

Laura Ramairez, who works with Norma Klaehn as the Parent Warm Line’s Spanish-speaking advocate, described how the services are available 24 hours a day. seven days a week.

Shannon Hart of the Child Care Resource Referral program at the Parenting Resource Center, talked about the Blue Ribbon campaign to end child abuse.

Sponsored by the Family Support Network, the campaign uses the ribbon symbol to "raise awareness, encourage discussion and stimulate action," according to Hart, to stimulate action on became of the victims of child abuse.

Austin Police Chief Paul M. Philipp, Mower County Sheriff’s Department Detective Mark May and County Sheriff Barry J. Simonson all offered law enforcement perspectives.

According to the police chief, children are now recognized as the "other victims" of abuse/assault actions of adults in their homes.

"This is a significant issue that must be dealt with in a proactive manner," Philipp said.

Detective May told how peace officers work in tandem with the Mower County DHS in both child abuse and sexual assault cases.

Paul Oelfke and Carrie Sharp, who work with Child Protective Services, in Mower County DHS, echoed the teamwork effort of law enforcement and Child Protective Services.

All said such instances are something that should never be minimized.

May said efforts to educate children in school about "good touch and bad touch" situations are having an impact and that he believes, "More of these kinds of incidence are being reported."

The detective said children are learning "when something is wrong and shouldn’t be tolerated and should be reported."

Sheriff Simonson said the awareness and education efforts are important because "they help get the message out."

While the law enforcement and social services professionals told of the difficulty in discovering and verifying the incidents of abuse/assault, doing nothing is the worst sin.

"The thin to do is call if your suspect something," Simonson said.