"He Stole My Soul...."

....that's how one man described his childhood sexual abuse.  "Bill" was one of 200 men who appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show on November 5 to talk about the violence they faced on a regular basis when they were just boys.   The show was graphic....it was heartbreaking....it was hopeful.  Each man held a large photograph of himself taken around the time the violence started.  All those men in a sea of faces....the faces of little boys.  It was powerful.  For most of them, no one was there to help.  No one was there to "restore their childhood". 

We know the numbers.  1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused by his 18th birthday.  We know that the rate of sexual abuse is probably drastically under-reported.  We know that boys face a very different paradigm than girls...that they are supposed to be strong....they are not supposed to be vulnerable....they are not supposed to be victims.

But those statistics start to wash over us after a while.  For many, they just become numbers; especially for those who do not work in this field.  It's easy to let the "numbers" overwhelm us to the point that they don't really represent actual people. This show made it real.  Names....faces.....stories.... The victims shared about how they were "groomed" for the abuse.  They shared about the shame they felt....about how they were profoundly affected and how it still haunts them today.

That's why DCAC is here.  We try each and every day to do what we can to "Prevent Abuse - Strengthen Families - Restore Childhood."  The "numbers" are real....our team members see the real faces and hear the real stories behind the "numbers" everyday. 

Part two of the show will air on Friday.  I encourage you to watch.

If you missed last Friday's episode....click here....you can watch the whole thing.

Scott Finlay - Director of Development & Communications