Communities Taking Action to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse

Stop It Now! works with a growing network of local organizations that sponsor Stop It Now! programs. These community based programs use the Stop It Now! model to develop programming to empower adults to take action to prevent the sexual abuse of children. Through trainings, community education events and media efforts, we

Teach adults to recognize warning signs for sexually abusive behaviors;

Give tools and resources to adults so they can talk about their concerns and take action to prevent abuse;

Challenge those who abuse - and families and friends who influence them - to stop the abuse, get help and face accountability.

How We Work in Communities

Sponsoring Organization

Stop It Now! headquarters office collaborates with local organizations that sponsor and house a Stop It Now!. Sponsoring organizations include treatment providers, statewide child abuse prevention organizations, and social service agencies.

Steering Committee of Local Stakeholders

Stop It Now! emphasizes the value of collaboration to bring together a wide variety of resources to contend with the complexities faced in preventing the sexual abuse of children. To harness the support and expertise of local stakeholders, all community based programs rely on a steering committee including representatives from key sectors, such as criminal justice, child protection, victim advocacy, treatment provider, faith communities, local business and others wanting to protect children from abuse.

Helpline

For more than 10 years, Stop It Now!’s national toll-free Helpline has provided information and resources to individuals and families with questions and concerns about sexual abuse. Stop It Now!’s Helpline is unique, because it offers adults a confidential place to speak, often for the first time, about concerning sexualized behaviors in another adult, adolescent or child or concerns about their own thoughts or behaviors. Stop It Now! community based programs provide up-to-date information about local resources enabling the national Helpline associates to offer callers referrals for treatment, advice, legal assistance, counseling and education in their own community.

Training and Community Education

Stop It Now! programs provide a variety of educational services to give community members the information, resources and support to prevent the sexual abuse of children. Local programs provide training to professionals who work with families and children (e.g.day care providers and social service workers). They also sponsor local community education to educate the broader public including the Stop It Now! Dialogues and other presentations. In addition, member programs distribute Stop It Now! materials to individuals and organizations throughout their service area. Our programs also collaborate with key organizations to extend Stop It Now! materials and messages to a broader audience by incorporating Stop It Now! materials and messages in their training and public education efforts. We also target our education efforts to the media, often in response to local events.

Social Marketing

Stop It Now! utilizes social marketing to educate the adult public about child sexual abuse prevention by urging them to take action by calling our Helpline (1.888.PREVENT) and visiting our website (www.stopitnow.org). Our social marketing approach is based upon the success of other campaigns to use the tools of advertising to change attitudes and behaviors. Much like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and others who have changed the way we think and act around those who drink and choose to drive, using this approach Stop It Now! seeks to change the way we think about the prevention of the sexual abuse of children. Stop It Now!’s ads encourage adults to step in and take action when they see inappropriate sexualized behavior. Our ad campaigns target both bystanders and abusers to take positive action when they find warning sign behavior in others or in themselves.

Research

Community based programs conduct research including baseline public opinion surveys to understand local knowledge, attitudes and actions taken prior to publicly launching local programming. This research provides a blueprint for adapting the Stop It Now! model to the local community. In addition, many community based programs do additional research to craft effective messages. Some examples include: focus groups with parents of youth with sexual behavior problems (Stop It Now! Georgia), social marketing research with adults at risk (Stop It Now! Minnesota), and focus groups and ethnographies with survivors and offenders (Stop It Now! Philadelphia).

Evaluation

Stop It Now! wants to know if our community based programming works. Each community based program is involved in showing the impact of its work through evaluations of its training and community education efforts. In addition, each program uses public opinion surveys to track the change in knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding child sexual abuse prevention. The four year comprehensive evaluation of Stop It Now! Vermont showed that the program was successful in getting abusers to call for help and in increasing adults’ knowledge and discussion of child sexual abuse. Click here for a summary of the Stop It Now! Vermont evaluation results.

Public Policy

Our public health approach centers on creating the conditions where healthy behaviors can flourish. Community based programs utilize the results of the social marketing techniques and the best practice methods implemented to influence policy-makers and the general public. Program staff work to change local and state public policy surrounding child sexual abuse prevention by testifying to legislative bodies, participating in local coalitions and advocating policies that encourage prevention.

Stop It Now! programs were created through the support of many individuals, organizations, foundation, and agencies. We gratefully acknowledge the incredible contributions that have made these programs possible.

How Local Organizations Can Get Involved

Stop It Now! has over 14 years experience working with local organizations to adapt our community-based model to local realities and concerns. We offer a variety of ways for local communities to explore implementing a Stop It Now! approach to child sexual abuse prevention:

Distributing Stop It Now! educational materials
Training on Stop It Now’s prevention approach
Providing local resources and support for the Stop It Now! Helpline
Implementing the Stop It Now! comprehensive, community-based program model including community education, social marketing, public policy and evaluation efforts.

For more information on how your community can become involved in Stop It Now!, please email field-devt@stopitnow.org.