NEW JERSEY
North Jersey Record
November 21, 2018
By Hannan Adely
From #metoo, to sex crimes against young gymnasts, to Catholic Church abuse scandals, stories about sexual violence have gripped this nation. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before the age of 18.
It’s a frightening statistic, but parents don’t have to feel helpless. There are concrete steps parents can take today to prevent sexual violence, said Elizabeth L. Jeglic and Cynthia Calkins, clinical psychologists who published a book on the topic earlier this year.
“Knowledge is power,” said Calkins. “There are lot of misconceptions about sexual abuse and sexual violence, so we wanted parents to be informed about what that abuse looks like, who perpetuates it, where it happens and what the circumstances around abuse are.”
As professors at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Jeglic and Calkins have researched sexual violence for more than a decade. Together, they’ve published articles in academic journals, written a book and spoken to peers at conferences about their findings on sexual violence prevention.
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