Child Sexual Abuse Prevention by Zina
*Trigger warning for all podcasts due to sensitive topic*
This podcast is for adults about child sexual abuse prevention and related topics hosted by Zina Ponsell.
Zina has a long history of working with children. She started her journey with a BA in Sociology as a Resource Coordinator for a Prekindergarten in 1997, where she assisted families and their children with daily life struggles. While working at the Prekindergarten, she began volunteering at a Rape Crisis/Child Advocacy Center with the thought in mind if any of her 100 Prekindergarten children found themselves needing a forensic medical exam due to allegations of child sexual abuse, she would be a familiar face as the volunteer advocate to assist 'her kids' and their families through this stressful time of uncertainty.
In 2004 Zina transitioned over to a fulltime position as the Victim Advocate at the Rape Crisis/Child Advocacy Center, where she remained employed in working with child and adult victims of sexual abuse until 2018.
Through the years Zina wore several hats which included Child Forensic Interviewer, Extended Forensic Interviewer, Children's Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator and Prevention Education Coordinator, following her initial position as Victim Services Coordinator.
As Prevention Education Coordinator, Zina trained thousands of children of all ages in six different school systems and communities, and adults, on Sexual Abuse Prevention.
This podcast is a product of years of extensive sexual abuse prevention trainings and working directly with child victims of this ongoing crime against our children.
It is our job as adults to protect all children. As the saying goes, knowledge is power.
Zina welcomes adult male and female listeners to her podcast. There are many adult survivors of both genders of this childhood trauma. We hope in some way these podcasts help you too.
You are invited to email Zina at csapreventionbyzina@gmail.com with any questions you would like included in future podcasts, dropping every Thursday beginning April 2024, Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Awareness month.
Child Sexual Abuse Prevention by Zina
Do's and Don'ts when Inquiring with your Child About Possible Sexual Abuse
Welcome to our 3rd episode of Child Sexual Abuse Prevention by Zina. Consider this episode an introduction in speaking with your child regarding signs of possible child sexual abuse they may be exhibiting.
This episode provides a sample scenario of a physical sign indicator of possible child sexual abuse on a younger child, and how to gently inquire with the child about where the physical indicators stemmed from.
The next few episodes will sprinkle additional information on speaking with different age children about possible physical and/or behavioral indicators, and the importance of it.
The 'Do's' in this episode are:
Do remain calm when speaking with your child
Do listen to your child
Do thank your child for telling you, whether it was related to a sexual abuse incident or something else, like accidently sitting in an ant bed creating physical indicators, as in our scenario (you'll have to check out this podcast to find out where that came from),
Do tell the child I believe you
Do tell the child they are not in trouble with you
Do tell the child it wasn't the child's fault
The 'Don'ts' in this episode are:
Don't scream and yell at your child trying to gather information
Don't put words or a possible offender's name in your child's head. IF something happened, the child often will tell you, or the forensic interviewer, through gentle questioning.
Don't ask why. Why didn't you stop them? Why did you wear...? Why were you there? Why did you let it happen? The word 'why' immediately puts blame on the victim.
Don't punish the child for not telling you what you 'want' to hear. What happened to the child may have nothing to do with sexual abuse.
Don't blame your child.
Email me at csapreventionbyzina@gmail.com with any questions or comments. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Have a blessed day!
Zina
Email me at csapreventionbyzina@gmail.com with any questions or comments. Every 9 minutes a child is sexually abused (RAINN). The RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) website is www.rainn.org, or call 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) 24/7 to receive services for current or past sexual assault. RAINN is for any age victim of sexual abuse. Mental Health America mhanational.org.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network nctsn.org.
Enough Abuse Campaign enoughabuse.org
Stop It Now! stopitnow.org, Darkness to Light d2l.org,
radKIDS radKIDS.org, Netsmartz netsmartz.org, netsmartzkids.org, nsteens.org, nsteens.org, internetmatters.org