PRESS RELEASE
MASPAL (Mothers Against Sexual
Predators at Large) is a non-profit
organization dedicated to educating the public on the issues surrounding
the prevention of sexual child abuse and the treatment of sexual
offenders. It seeks to promote a public dialogue on these subjects in
order to arrive at public policy (local, state and national) to combat
child molestations.
While there are too many issues
for one news article to address in
detail, MASPAL starts with the underlying fact that we are approaching
(or may have arrived at) an epidemic of sexual child abuse in this
country. Promoting a safer environment for our children is the ultimate
goal.
Crucial facts are: 1) The majority
of molesters are KNOWN by the child.
2) Child molesting occurs in ALL income and racial groups. 3) You may
not know your child is a victim. 4) Most molesters are male, but some
females are too. 5) Children do NOT outgrow the traumatic effects of
molestation. 6) A 1992 national rape survey found that 29% of ALL rape
victims were under eleven years old, and 32% of rape victims were
between the ages of 11 and 17. In other words 61% of all rape victims
are children or teenagers. In 2001 that figure is likely to be higher.
Further, some studies of people
who are child molesters say that 57% of
them were molested themselves as children. Other studies and individual
psychologists who specialize in the trauma of molestation put the
percentage much higher - even as high as 98%. Typically, molesters will
abuse 30 to 60 children before they are arrested. If they are released
back into society experience tells us they will continue the practice,
so a molester can abuse hundreds of children in a lifetime.
Although most sexually molested
children do NOT become abusers
themselves, a certain percentage do. If, for example, one sexually
abused child in ten * becomes himself an abuser, we can see
mathematically that a person who abuses 30 to 60 children runs a
statistical chance of creating 3 to 6 more child abusers. And each one
of these creates 3 to 6 more. Thus we see one of the roots of this
epidemic.
How to stop the vicious cycle
of creating more abuse and protecting our
children is a critical subject for communities across the nation.
MASPAL suggests some guidelines regarding the treatment of offenders
(which should be a firm but humane policy of monitoring offenders by use
of half-way houses, ankle monitors or other means designed by state and
local authorities); MASPAL also suggests some guidelines for
intercommunication between communities and across state lines (as of
now, very few states warn other states of abusers moving to their
jurisdiction).
Understanding the problem is
the first step in curing it. Just as
hospitals and doctors over time learned the causes of various diseases
and were able to cure them, so we need to learn the causes of sexual
child abuse in order to wipe it out. Only an educated public can act
for the safety of their children.
For more information write:
MASPAL, P.O. Box 9395, Missoula, Mt. 59807
or go on line at www.maspal.org
A. R. Moss
Sedona, Arizona
