Watch My TEDMED Talk on Child Sexual Abuse Prevention

After almost a year, my TEDMED talk is finally available for everyone to watch. This is by far one of the most important talks I’ve given, and I believe that my argument for preventing child sexual abuse using a public health approach is one that everyone can and should support.

In my talk, I discuss the fact that child sexual abuse is a 100 percent preventable public health problem. Child sexual abuse is not inevitable, its causes are not mysterious and it’s not a matter of making children “tougher” in order to prevent it. We know who is most at-risk of committing child sexual abuse, and we know who are most at-risk of experiencing it. Now it is a matter of developing scientifically proven strategies to both educate at-risk groups and implement better policies to protect children. There is no reason for us to wait for sexual abuse to happen before we intervene.

My goal is to get one million people to watch my talk. Will you please help me reach as many people as possible by sending this blog to family and friends, especially parents, educators, policy makers and those who work with children in youth serving organizations?

The idea that children can be helped before they victimize or become victims may be an eye-opening idea to some, and I hope that after watching my talk, everyone will be convinced that we must change the way we think and talk about child sexual abuse. Too many children become victims for us not to act swiftly, and it is up to all of us to make our families and communities safer for every child.