South Dakota joins national campaign to fight child sexual abuse

South Dakota on Tuesday became just the eighth state to join the national Enough Abuse Campaign, a grassroots movement providing adults and communities with the knowledge and skills to prevent child sexual abuse in their communities.

The Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment, Children’s Home Society and the South Dakota Department of Social Services made the announcement Tuesday as part of Children’s Day at the Capitol in Pierre. 

The Enough Abuse Campaign offers educational information to parents, youth, professionals and other concerned adults to prevent people from sexually abusing children today and to prevent children from developing abusive behaviors in the future. The South Dakota organizations are accepting applications for trainers, who will go through the Enough Abuse curricula so they can educate people on the topic in their communities. Trainers will be partially supported through stipends funded by the Rape Prevention Education program of the South Dakota Department of Health.

South Dakota’s participation in the Enough Abuse Campaign follows up on its yearlong involvement in the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Resiliency program. The ACEs study found that the leading causes of disease and disability, learning and productivity problems, and early death have roots in the cumulative neurodevelopmental impacts of such experiences. It represented a paradigm shift in human understanding of the origins of physical, social, mental, and societal health and wellbeing.

Children’s Day at the Capitol is an annual event that invites children’s advocacy organizations to educate legislators, lobbyists and the public on issues concerning child welfare in South Dakota. This year’s Children’s Day featured a 5 p.m. free screening of Resilience: The Biology of Stress & the Science of Hope, an award-winning documentary that chronicles the science of ACEs and the birth of a new movement to treat and prevent toxic stress. Children’s Day is hosted by Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment, Child Advocacy Centers of South Dakota, Children’s Home Society of South Dakota and Child’s Voice Child Advocacy Center at Sanford.