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18 J. Child Sexual Abuse 1 (2009)

handle is hein.journals/wcsa18 and id is 1 raw text is: journal of Child SexualAbuse, 18:1-18, 2009 Routledge Copyright 0 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Taylor&Francis Group ISSN: 1053-8712 print/1547-0679 online DOI: 10.1080/10538710802584650 CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION Preventing Sexual Abuse of Children in the Twenty-First Century: Preparing for Challenges and Opportunities SANDY K. WURTELE University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA Child sexual abuse is a widespread social problem that negatively affects victims, families, communities, and society. his article briefly describes the scope and consequences of child sexual abuse and briefly critiques child-focused personal safety educational programs designed to prevent sexual victimization. The final section offers suggestions for expanding the focus of child-directed efforts and also includes recommendations for alternative approaches to primary prevention. KEYWORDS child sexual abuse, prevention, safety education, primary prevention This paper focuses on the serious problem of child sexual abuse (CSA). It is organized in three sections. The first section reviews what is known about the problem of CSA and includes a brief overview of the magnitude of the problem and associated consequences. The second section reviews the rela- tively brief history of personal safety education for children and examines the evidence regarding the effectiveness of child-focused programs. The third and final section offers suggestions for expanding the focus of child- directed efforts and also includes recommendations for alternative Received 6 March 2006; revised 24 July 2006; revised 26 May 2007; accepted 30 May 2007. Address correspondence to Sandy K. Wurtele, Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, Colorado Springs, CO 80933-7150. E-mail: swurtele@uccs.edu 1