Supporters of Erin’s Law, a child sexual abuse prevention law adopted by 19 other states, urged members of the House Human Services Committee to back a portion of the law that calls for sexual abuse education for children.
“Child abuse is a problem. It’s a systemic problem. It crosses all social-economic boundaries,” said Carolyn McAllister, a member of the Payne County Sexual Abuse Prevention Task Force, said during the committee’s hearing on Interim Study 14H-014. The study was requested by Rep. Lee Denney, R-Cushing.
McAllister said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies show one-in-four women and one-in-sex men report being sexually assaulted as a child. However, actual reports of child sexual abuse are much lower, she added.
From 75 to 90 percent of sexually abused children know their abuser, she said studies show, eliminating the previously taught concept of “stranger danger” and the median age of the abuse is nine-year-old. Over the last several years, McAllister said, Oklahoma has averaged 1,100 substantiated cases of child abuse, well below the numbers reported by adults. The actual number of cases, she said, could be more than 3,000.
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