Child sexual abuse is a social illness that continues to devastate thousands of American families . According to the Department of the Children and Families , an estimated 500,000 babies in the United States in 2013 will be sexually abused before the age of 18 .
A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2006 concluded that approximately “ 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys are sexually abused before their 18 th birthday .” Essentially , there are more than 42 million adult survivors of child sexual abuse .
The long term implications of child sexual abuse and its damaging psychological and emotional effects have yet to be studied conclusively . The primary reason that the public is unaware of the enormity of the child sexual abuse problem is the stigma commonly associated with its victims . 73 % of child victims fail to disclose the abuse to an adult or authority figure within a year of being victimized . Only a mere 45 % of child sexual trauma victims ever disclose their abuse at all ( Smith et . Al , 2000 ; Broman-Fulks et al , 2007 ). There is a tendency of male victims to suppress their trauma and abuse for fear of embarrassment , humiliation , and the appearance of being emasculated . Similarly , female victims also fail to report the crime because of humiliation , embarrassment , and backlash from their family and respective communities .
The Laurens Kids Organization was founded in 2007 by Lauren Book , a victim and survivor of child sexual abuse . Ms . Book was victimized between the ages of 11 to 16 by a female domestic maid . She uses her subsequent life experiences to counsel , educate , and bring awareness to the problem of child sexual abuse :
No one would have ever suspected what Lauren was going through during her adolescent years . She was the prototypical honor student : straight A ’ s , model citizen , blonde-haired , blue-eyed beauty pre-teen , full of life . Her father was a prominent attorney and lobbyist who traveled extensively 3 to 4 months out of the year . Her mother was gravely sick , and suffered from mental illness . Lauren ’ s nanny essentially became her surrogate mother , nurturer , and caregiver .
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