Did the #MeToo movement lead to any critical change or improved circumstances for women? That’s the question raised by Barb Sweet of Saltwire Network. In print, The Chronicle Herald’s front page title reads,

\’Keep the Conversation Going\’

#MeToo raised awareness but no magic solution (March 1, 2021)

As we work our way towards International Women’s Day on March 8, it is a good time for us to reflect on the quality of life that women experience.

Laura Winters, Executive Director of the St. John’s Status of Women Council women’s centre is attributed with saying that,

‘#MeToo helped women identify that they were not alone in their experiences.’

The article declares that #MeToo did not bring a magic solution: a full stop to sexual violence.

That caught our attention. A full stop to sexual violence. Sounds a lot like our mission; to eradicate childhood sexual abuse.

Whose Job is it, Anyway?

Whose job description includes the act of preventing sexualized violence against women?

In my community that job description is most commonly seen in the Transition Houses and Women’s Centre’s across the province. Underfunded, under-resourced, and short term hires are tasked with this gigantuous mission.

What kind of response would we expect when 2 out of 3 women experience sexual violence? How many people does it take, working full time hours, to achieve a full stop to sexual violence? And has it ever occurred to us to try?

It’s telling that it took a social media phenomenon to convince women that their experiences are not isolated.

FACT:

50% of Adults Make New Years Resolutions

But did we need a social media campaign to let each other know that there is a large community of adults making resolutions each new year? No. That’s common knowledge. We hear about and talk about resolutions every year.

In fact, there are industries that profit from these resolutions, and these industries fuel the conversations.

Ads about signing up for gym memberships.

Ads for weight loss memberships.

Could we even imagine approaching Dec. 31st without a newspaper article, opinion piece, morning show topic discussing new year’s resolutions?

As each new year approaches we talk all kinds about resolutions. Who is making them? Who isn’t? What do people resolve to do each year? Who is successful? Who isn’t? I imagine that there are all kinds of studies and research that observes these habits and behaviours.

Because this is what it looks and sounds like when 50% of the population is involved in some kind of shared event.

50%

Pick anything that 50% of humans experience and I am sure there are billboards, public service announcements, industries, marketing campaigns and most importantly, people being PAID to do something about it.

Except sexualized violence against women. And children.

In my time of working with community organizations I saw countless binders on countless shelves scattered across my province. Binders containing a step by step solution to some facet of sexual violence. Researched. Studied. Collecting dust.

Not because the contents of the binder aren’t suited for the task.

Collecting dust because the short term, part-time, low-wage funding for the project ceased.

This is the type of systemic condition that keeps us from achieving the ‘magic solution’ to violence against women.

At it’s core, a lack of commitment.

Other social challenges have costs that can be traced through our economy.

Cancer has researchers, pharmaceuticals, doctors, nurses.

Diabetes has products that are manufactured and distributed.

Heart Disease and Stroke have not-for profits with employees running national campaigns and fundraisers.

Who is going to fund the ‘magic solution’? Who profits from ending sexual violence against women?

Studies have proven that childhood trauma, like sexual abuse, increases the likelihood of a person developing Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease and Stroke, as well as increasing the risk of suicide.

Have you ever seen, heard, or read of ending sexual violence as a method of preventing Cancer?

There is a magic solution to ending sexual violence against women. The solution is to prevent sexual abuse against children. Its the first step. Researched. Measured. Tested. Evaluated.

But we won’t let this idea sit in a binder on a shelf collecting dust.

We are Taking Responsibility. We Made it our Mission and our Job.

We know that 75% of people who experienced sexual violence were under the age of 18 when they were first abused.

75% of all sexual assaults occur against children. 50% of these children experience sexual assault again as adults.

$$$

Protecting kids takes a financial commitment. It takes person-power and time to train staff. It takes resources to build best practices that suit each organization.

When we factor the cost of keeping kids safe and compare it to the cost of even one child being abused, the comparison is astonishing.

It is 50 times more expensive to allow even one child to be sexually abused than it is to train an entire organization to keep kids safe and build policies and practices so that it will ALWAYS be able to keep kids safe.

It is 50 times more expensive to allow 1 child to be harmed than to keep all kids in an organization safe.

This is a strictly financial comparison. If we gave a value to the emotional hardship and relationship challenges that spawn from an incident of childhood sexual abuse, and also valued the strengthened relationships and improved organizational culture that occurs when staff are trained to protect kids from sexual abuse, it would be even more clear that protecting kids from sexual abuse is a sound financial investment.

But whose job is it?

Think about your friends and their jobs. Think about your family and the jobs that your family members have. Think about people you know who own businesses and are self-employed… Which of these people in your life are responsible for preventing sexual violence?

Unless your friends and family work in Transition Houses and Women’s Centres/Sexual Assault Centres, you’d probably have a hard time coming up with even one person in your network whose job makes them responsible for preventing sexual violence.

At Priority Kids, we’ve made it our mission to eradicate childhood sexual abuse. We’ve given ourselves this job and we are committed to helping our community to invest in protecting children from sexual abuse. We believe that we are responsible for keeping kids safe.

As International Women’s Day approaches, we hope you will join us in our mission to eradicate childhood sexual abuse. Contact us today. Together, we will make a plan to keep kids safe in your community, in your organization and in your family.

Book an Intro Call

###

If the content of this article causes you distress or discomfort, please seek support.

Where to get help in Nova Scotia

Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868

Book a trainer for your staff and volunteersBook a speaker to share this message