Lynn Hudoba: Sexual Abuse and the Developmentally Disabled
The Penn State scandal raises awareness of predators who target at-risk and vulnerable children.
Like everyone else, I watched in horror last week as the events unfolded in the child sex abuse scandal at Penn State. For parents of young children, it is unfathomable to contemplate something like this happening to your own child. Unfortunately, it is more common than we’d like to believe. Statistics show that around 15 percent of children are sexually abused before the age of 18. For girls, it’s more like 30 percent. And for developmentally disabled girls? 83 percent. 83 percent? 83 percent. Since this is a Patch opinion article, and not a research white paper, I won’t be footnoting the source for that statistic. But I could. It’s a statistic that I’ve heard thrown around a lot since I became the parent of a developmentally disabled …
Ciara
4:50 am on Wednesday, November 16, 2011
What nobody really thinks of is the fact that children often abuse each other. All the abuse cases I personally know about happened between kids. Speaking out about it does not help. People freak out at the idea and immediately hide behind the "they are just kids" excuse. more ›