Learn how to have hard conversations about child sexual abuse - "Body Safety for Children: No Secrets” Review

By Laura Miller

There is more than one way to tell a story.  As parents, educators, and mentors, it’s my belief that we owe them a certain level of the audacity of courage. There are several conversations while parenting that we never want to have. Namely, because there is hurt that we would never want them to receive. One of those incredibly uncomfortable conversations is related to body safety and sexual abuse. 

Let’s be honest as much as we can about this subject. No adult wants their family to pass down this type of trauma. No parent who is a survivor of abuse wants to even consider that the world is still plagued by sexual abuse, human trafficking, or undue bodily harm to the next generation. Unfortunately, studies are showing that this curse of intended pain has not unwaivered in affecting our children. 

When we asked the Chicago native, and “ Body Safety for Children: No Secrets” author, Israeio Holloway, why she felt it was important to ask such an important question, here’s what she said, “I’m a survivor of abuse. I wrote Body Safety For Children: No Secrets to coincide with my not-for-profit organization’s mission of combating exploitation. To raise awareness and educate families on child sexual abuse prevention. It is difficult yet necessary topic parents are recommended not to avoid.” 

The book is a how-to guide, that helps us gather the necessary words to be able to at best allow our children to feel safe enough within our authority to speak up. The pathology for sexual predators is to pull them away from us, leaving them to suffer in silence and hold a secret that is too large to maintain. 

While this book might not be the happiest of subjects to purchase for friends and family this season, it is by far the most necessary. Holloway’s book is available on Amazon in paperback for $7

.99. It’s my recommendation that it should be given in children’s Sunday schools, in academia, within the home, and for anyone else who has an important child in their lives. 

We owe them a chance at safety. We owe them the opportunity to know that their body is their own and should not be abused. We owe them this because they matter. 

Israeio Holloway