"The Underwear Rule" is part of the Council of Europe's ONE in FIVE campaign to stop sexual violence against children.
According to the Council of Europe statistics one in five children in Europe is a victim of sexual abuse and "it's estimated that in 70 to 85% of cases, the abuser is somebody the child knows and trusts."
"TRUSTS" - did you get that?
The Underwear Rule speaks to children directly and provides "a simple guide to help parents explain to children where others should not try to touch them, how to react and where to seek help."
It includes a television advertisement featuring the cartoon character Kiko telling children what is and isn't acceptable in terms of being touched.
And a 20-page "The Underwear Rule" book can be downloaded free of charge from the campaign's website.
"What is The Underwear Rule?"
"It’s simple," writes Juliet Linley, in her Corriere della Sera column Mamma Mia.
"A child should not be touched by others on parts of the body usually covered by their underwear. And they should not touch others in those areas.
It also helps explain to children that their body belongs to them, that there are good and bad secrets and good and bad touches.
Through its ONE in FIVE campaign, the Council of Europe wants to achieve two main goals:
a) promote the signature, ratification and implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse;
b) equip children, their families/carers and societies at large with knowledge - and tools - to prevent and report sexual violence against children, thereby raising awareness of how widespread sexual violence against children is."
At the launch of the campaign in Rome, Maud de Boer Buquicchio, the deputy secretary-general of the Council of Europe said she hoped it would "inspire countries across the world to tackle the global phenomenon of child abuse," and "make sure international borders are not an obstacle in prosecuting offenders."
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2 comments:
excellent article, thank you so much. how very useful.
i thought that a toddler would be too young and innocent to have to face being taught about 'touching' -but i could not have been more wrong.
it's horrifying, but abusers have no sense of innocence.
so we need to protect out little ones with everything we've got. spread the word.
thank you for caring.
It is time for parents to be aware of this Underwear Rule that they can teach to their kids to protect them from sexual abuses. We should spread the word to raise awareness regarding this tip.
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