Preventing Child Sexual Abuse through Connection and Support: Lessons from Stop It Now! and WhatsOK

For decades, child sexual abuse has been addressed primarily with reactive approaches, after a child is harmed. In recent years, however, there has been an increase in support for the development of primary prevention initiatives—specifically, programs that focus on perpetration prevention and pursue opportunities to reach youth and young adults at-risk to abuse with support and resources.

The goals of this workshop are to examine this new landscape of child sexual abuse prevention and identify areas for future development. Attendees will expand their knowledge of perpetration prevention resources, their development, and potential impact. Specifically, What’s Ok? from Stop It Now! will be featured as novel examples of perpetration prevention initiatives. The speaker will discuss the development, implementation of, and lessons learned from this program, and close with a focus on critical gaps in prevention that must be addressed.

Presenter: Jenny Coleman, MA, LMHC
Presentation Date: May 28, 2024

Learning Objectives

Participants will gain:

1. Improved understanding of public health approaches to preventing child sexual abuse
2. Enhance knowledge of prevention through a prevention program that focuses on young people who are concerned about their thoughts, feelings and/or behaviors.
3. Ability to identify critical gaps in prevention due to funding, prioritization, and systems of race, power, and privilege