Agenda & Learning Objectives
8:00 am – 9:00 am Registration
9:00 am – 9:05 am Welcome
9:05 am – 10:00 am The Role of Power and Status in Child Sexual Abuse in Youth Serving Organizations
Presenter: Donald Palmer, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Management in the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Davis.
Using data archive on episodes of child sexual abuse (CSA) linked to clubs affiliated with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, we conduct a multivariate analysis of the relationship between indicators of alleged perpetrators’ power and status (their occupancy of a leadership position in a local Boys and Girls Club and their affiliation with other YSOs in the local club’s community) and measures of alleged perpetrators’ ability to abuse children, avoid detection, and escape accountability (the duration and number of children victimized in episodes of abuse). The results of our analysis largely confirm the previously unsubstantiated belief that power and status can facilitate CSA in YSOs. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for public and organizational policy devoted to keeping kids safe in YSOs.
From this presentation, participants will gain:
- An understanding of why power and status facilitates CSA in YSOs.
- Knowledge of empirical evidence that indicates power and status facilitates CSA in YSOs.
- Awareness of public and organizational policy implications of the fact that power and status facilitate in CSA in YSOs.
10:00 am 10:45 am Is It Time for the Technology Industry to Take the Lead? Tech Solutions and Global Responsibility
Discussion Moderator: Aengus O Dochartaigh, Outreach Director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Presenters: Sean Litton, President & CEO of the Tech Coalition
The technology industry is both a source of enormous innovation that can be harnessed to support the mission for global prevention, and a key social actor with the ability to shape cultural and social norms. This panel will explore cutting edge tools with the power to supercharge prevention interventions, and tackle the thorny question: what role of proactive social leadership should the technology industry adopt, and are they stepping up?
From this presentation, participants will:
- Learn about the potential for technology to streamline and scale our efforts to prevent child sexual abuse.
- Appreciate the key political, commercial, and philosophical dynamics influencing how and when industry takes the lead.
- Reflect on how the technology industry can be a partner in prevention.
10:45 am – 11:15 am Break
11:15 am – 12:05 pm BREAKOUT SESSION – Help Wanted: An Online Prevention Program for People with Sexual Attraction to Children
Presenters: Amanda Ruzicka, Senior Research Associate and Deputy Center Director; Ryan Shields, Assistant Professor and Center Affiliate
Policymakers and practitioners are increasingly recognizing the value of a public health approach to child sexual abuse prevention, including perpetration prevention. One risk factor for child sexual abuse is sexual attraction to children. This attraction does not equate with action, and many people with attraction to children are committed to and successful with keeping kids safe. These individuals may, however, benefit from support addressing stigma and related health and well-being issues. Some people will benefit from strategies aimed at reducing the likelihood of acting on attraction to children. Help Wanted was developed both to prevent child sexual abuse and to promote the well-being of people attracted to children. Since launching to the public in May 2020, this free and online intervention has been visited more than 737,000 times.
This session will cover updates on Help Wanted, including: 1) a revision of Help Wanted based on qualitative feedback from hundreds of help seekers, 2) the design of an ongoing randomized controlled trial and related measurement issues we face in evaluating intervention outcomes, and 3) our efforts to develop new content aimed at the friends, family members, and professionals who support people with attraction to children, as well as new content aimed at CSEM and potential international adaptations of Help Wanted.
From this presentation, participants will:
- Be better able to understand the purpose of obtaining help-seeker feedback on the Help Wanted Intervention.
- Be able to identify which measures were used to evaluate change in risk and protective factors for child sexual abuse, and the steps undertook to identify these measures.
- Be able to identify strategies to develop online intervention content for hard-to-reach populations.
12:05 pm – 1:40 pm Lunch
1:40 pm – 2:30 pm Introducing Prevention Global. Building Evidence of Effective Prevention
Presenters: Christoffer Rahm, MD, PhD; Melissa Bright, PhD, Founder and Executive Director of Center for Violence Prevention Research; Maximilian von Heyden, M.Sc. Public Health, Director of Health Communication, Institute of Sexology and Sexual Medicine, Charite – Universitatsmedizin Berlin; Nina Vaaranen-Valkonen, Co-founder and Executive Director of Protect Children; Deborah Denis, CEO of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation; Michael Seto, Director,
Forensic Research Unit, University of Ottawa's Institute of Mental Health Research at The Royal, Professor in Psychiatry, University of Ottawa; Elizabeth Letourneau, PhD, Professor of Mental Health and Director, Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Prevention Global is the largest investment in perpetration prevention research to date, with an ambitious target to rigorously evaluate high-quality interventions. The initiative will also generate a number of themed knowledge products to inform critical prevention decisions across policy, practice and funding. This panel will introduce the final cohort of evaluations and cast an eye to the future – what will it take to scale and translate the most effective perpetration prevention interventions across the global north and south?
From this presentation, participants will:
- Be exposed to some of the leading perpetration interventions worldwide.
- Tackle the most difficult aspects of scaling and translation across cultural contexts.
- Consider how practitioners can learn from different intervention methodologies.
3:00 pm – 3:45 pm Break/Exhibits
3:45 pm – 4:30 pm The Australian Child Maltreatment Study: Evidence to Inform the Future of Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse
Presenter: Professor Ben Mathews
This presentation will outline key findings and implications from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study, which surveyed 8500 Australians aged 16 and over to identify the national prevalence of child sexual abuse, and its associated mental disorders and health risk behaviours. The ACMS identified concerning prevalence and associated health outcomes of child sexual abuse, while also identifying trends by gender, and by age group. Taken together the ACMS findings show some declines in child sexual abuse by some classes of perpetrator, and some increases by other classes of perpetrator. This evidence has provided governments and policy-makers with the evidence required to enhance systemic approaches to prevention and identification of child sexual abuse, and appropriate responses after the event.
From this presentation, participants will:
- Develop new knowledge about the definition and measurement of child sexual abuse.
- Understand the national prevalence of child sexual abuse in Australia, trends over time, and implications for other nations.
- Understand the association between child sexual abuse, mental disorders, and health risk behaviours.
- Consider implications of rigorous epidemiological evidence for system reforms and prevention for future generations.
4:30 pm – 4:45 pm The Future of Prevention
Presenter: Elizabeth Letourneau, PhD, Professor of Mental Health and Director, Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
This session will be a continuation of the opening session Child Sexual Abuse Prevention from Day One and will highlight the prevention efforts and crucial next steps featured by Envision speakers and end with a set of next steps attendees can engage in from their diverse disciplines to advance child sexual abuse prevention.
From this presentation, participants will:
- Understand the importance of child sexual abuse prevention efforts across multiple disciplines along with the importance of collaborations.
- Identify concrete next steps to advance child sexual abuse prevention.
- Identify ways to implement these next steps within their specific discipline.
4:30 pm – 5:00 pm Registration closes
