The holidays are a beautiful time of connection with friends and family near and far. For some, this season makes us feel loved by trusted family members that surround us with safety, empathy, and protection. For others, it invokes anxiety, depression, and fear due to family members who cause abuse, harm, or toxicity. Regardless of the family situations that we come from, we can make empowered decisions to protect our children during this holiday season. Here are 3 ways to keep your kids safe during this holiday season:  1. teach body boundaries It is important to not only specify bo ..read more

Parenting young ones in such peculiar times can feel like a never ending roller coaster ride. As a caregiver, you juggle so many responsibilities in order to secure a future for your child. Dealing with so many tasks and concerns poses the risk of missing signs that could identify whether your child has experienced sexual abuse. Keeping children safe can be challenging because perpetrators are often in positions of trust.  Perpetrators who engage in grooming often take steps to hide their actions, which presents a need for a vigilance and intentionality in assessing the safety of our c ..read more

I was young, innocent, and intelligent, but I lived in a crooked community. I witnessed theft and its consequences as my community gathered to subject the thief to “justice”. They have shown this same unity in beating a woman caught with another woman’s husband. The torture, name-calling, and violence left me reeling. My mother took the time to tell me about the ways of life and the importance of education. She placed tools in our hands so that we could escape poverty and pursue our education. She taught me Christian values and also spoke about the dress code. Mother showed us what to wear ..read more

As parents and caregivers, we are not in complete control over what happens to our children, but it is our responsibility to protect our children by deciding which adults have access to them. Healthy relational boundaries are a necessary factor in preventing child sexual abuse. These boundaries determine and gauge the health of all relationships. The key to establishing relational boundaries with your child is to find consistency and balance. If your boundaries are extremely rigid, you will hinder your child’s ability to build trust and receive healthy affection. If your child is closed off ..read more

This resource is for parents and caregivers of children who have experienced sexual abuse. If you are not sure whether your child has experienced sexual abuse, click here for helpful ways to approach the subject with your child. Many parents and caregivers are unaware of both the immediate and lifelong damage that a violated child will suffer, but this ignorance has cost us the future of our children. To stop this cycle, we must remedy ignorance with intentional conversations. By learning how to best care for your child and growing a strong support network, you will be able to move towards ..read more

The Trauma-Informed Parenting Guide provides the basics of trauma-informed care to empower parents and caregivers to have age-appropriate conversations with their children around sexuality, sexual abuse, and trauma healing. When you donate, we’ll send you a free download of the full guide along with accompanying videos.  donate today Below is an excerpt from our Trauma-Informed Parenting guide filled with practices, techniques, exercises, and tips specifically for parents of survivors of sexual violence.  1. understanding body autonomy Body autonomy means that children ha ..read more

Mental health awareness is not only about mental illness but mental wellness as well.  When it comes to children, you as the parent are the first level of support and that sometimes can feel like a daunting task. Beginning to care for your child’s mental health begins with knowing your child and what their “normal” looks like. Use that as a basis to understand and appreciate their uniqueness. 1. Model healthy mental habits Teaching your child how to care for their mental health starts with you doing the same. “Self-care before child care” is a powerful mantra for adults looking to s ..read more

As a parent or caregiver, you are devoting your full time and energy to supporting your child through their healing. But even as you care for your child, you still have healing taking place within yourself as well. Your healing presence will be amplified through your own self-care. Caring for yourself is a crucial first step as it will allow you to connect with your child from a place of self-awareness instead of directing any self-blame, anger, or shame toward your child. Healing your own ancestral trauma and childhood wounds is essential to breaking the cycle of abuse for the next ge ..read more

Each day that we fight for justice for survivors, we hear of new child sexual abuse cases and families healing from collective trauma. Although strides in the right direction have been made through interventions and informed care, there is still much work to be done. Most communities are unequipped with the information necessary to fight such a prevalent issue. If we are to leave an even larger impact, our efforts must be paired with prevention-focused conversations to inspire shifts in African culture.  Learning about the causes and effects of sexual violence in our communities w ..read more