Recent events in Marshalltown, Ames and Oskaloosa have again brought child sexual abuse into the spotlight. Our hearts break for the children directly impacted in each of these cases, and the impact on their families, peers, schools, and communities. There is hope. What happened in these communities does not have to happen again. Child abuse is 100 percent preventable. Iowans can take steps right now to ensure that it doesn’t. We all want kids to grow up in safe and supportive environments to ensure the best possible outcomes for them later in life. We all have a role in preventing child abuse.

As a result of these terrible events, four children have experienced alleged inappropriate sexual behavior from an adult in their lives, and two adults are dead. Their families are struggling. Community members are angry and want to know who to blame. They want to know how it happened and what to do to make sure it does not happen again — to their kids, in their school, in their community and throughout our state.

Sexual abuse is more common than many realize. The Iowa Department of Human Services reported more thyan 800 cases of child sexual abuse in 2020. It is estimated that one in four girls and one in 13 boys will experience sexual abuse at some point in their childhood. Child sexual abuse is difficult to identify and is under reported, in part because 91 percent of child sexual abuse involves someone known to the child or their family.

Children thrive in safe and stable environments. When a child experiences sexual abuse, the long-term impacts and stress of that event on their developing brains and bodies can lead to higher risk of negative health outcomes like depression, substance abuse disorders, intimate partner violence and chronic health issues, such as heart disease. The presence of stable, responsive adult relationships can help children cope with this stress and mitigate its impacts. It is adults’ responsibility to protect children from abuse. Healthy relationships help children build resilience to cope with traumatic events they may face in life.

Adults can take steps now to promote safe environments. Building an open and trusting relationship with children, where everyone feels safe and comfortable talking about difficult topics, is a critical first step. It is important to talk with children about general safety practices, such as not keeping secrets about interactions with other people and developing healthy boundaries.

Schools and youth serving organizations can also take steps to provide children and staff with a supportive environment to promote learning and development. Policies that ensure interactions between adults and students are observable by others can help limit risk. Organizations should train adults on identifying boundary-violating behaviors before abuse occurs, and include age-appropriate programs on healthy relationships, boundaries, self-esteem and appropriate body part language to help teach kids important developmental skills.

Recently enacted state legislation has improved our ability to identify and respond to abuse after it occurs. The removal of statutes of limitations, increased penalties, and improved mandatory reporter training can act as deterrents for potential perpetrators. However, these policies typically impact responses to instances of abuse. Prevent Child Abuse Iowa advocates for policies that promote the prevention of abuse before it happens. One prevention-focused strategy is a policy requiring all school personnel to receive training on recognizing pre-abuse behaviors and how to interrupt and respond to them. This helps prevent children from not only the trauma of abuse, but the subsequent stress of reporting, investigations and attention.

Talk with your local schools, youth-serving organizations and prevention providers about programs available in your community to increase awareness and skills in preventing sexual abuse. Reach out to your legislators and encourage them to support bills that require education on sexual abuse prevention for all school employees as well as age-appropriate abuse prevention training for children in all grades, pre-K through 12.

We have the ability and responsibility to provide healthy environments for all of Iowa’s children. We can prevent abuse before it occurs and in turn, improve outcomes for all of Iowa. For more information, please reach out to Prevent Child Abuse Iowa and your local child abuse prevention council. If you suspect abuse is occurring, please call the Iowa DHS child abuse reporting hotline at 1-800-362-2178.

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Greg Bellville is the executive director

of Prevent Child Abuse Iowa.