About Last Night....... #MySexuality

The tweet session on Child Sexual Abuse and what we as parents/guardians held last night and it was very well received. I was up until about 1am replying people who had tuned in. It was pretty educative and insightful and it goes to prove that these societal issues need to be addressed more often because so many people are hurting in silence, traumatised by their experiences.

The highlight of the night for me was being able to learn that there is a place here in Nigeria where victims of sexual and domestic violence can get free therapy almost instantly. Therapy goes a long way in ensuring healing from the pains, no matter how long it has been or how fresh it is. Please visit http://jacknjillive.com/therapy/ to find out more. Thank you.

I have compiled the tweets I sent out last night and I will post them below. Please share and learn from the information. We cannot afford these societal ills to carry on while we bury our heads in the sand and deny they exist

·        Child sexual abuse occurs when a parent or guardian fails to protect a child against sexual abuse either through their actions or inactions #MySexuality

·        Child sexual abuse can occur in places such as your home, in schools, in religious homes, on the streets, etc #MySexuality

·        The effects of a sexual abuse on a child can range from physical to emotional to mental and so on. It is very traumatizing #MySexuality

·        Often we find out that a lot of people who were abused as children find it hard to recover from the traumas #MySexuality

·        While some people can find strength within and move on with their lives, others simply cannot #MySexuality

·        It is not only adults who abuse children, sometimes adolescents, and even other children can/do #MySexuality

·        Ensure you do not leave your children with other people (male, female, strangers, family) without proper supervision #MySexuality

·        I know a young man who was abused by his aunt from the age of 7 until he was 13. #MySexuality

·        Yes, you read that right. His mother’s sister had sex with him for years #MySexuality That is child abuse.

·        I remember a tenant of ours groped me once. He was much older and should have known better. #MySexuality

·        My parents were home that night but he timed it such that we were alone on our stairway. No one saw anything. I never told. ‪#MySexuality

·        My parents still have no clue about it till date. Well, I’m sure when they see this, it will come up. ‪#Cringes ‪#MySexuality

·        He did not rape me. He did not feel me up my skirt. He kissed me on the stairway. It was my first kiss. I was 12. He was older. ‪#MySexuality

·        He should have known better than to do that. I sort of shut it out of my memory until I was drafting these tweets tonight ‪#MySexuality

·        My parents would be so hurt to know this. They trusted him. I called him "uncle". We all called him "uncle". ‪#MySexuality

·        So many young ladies and men have been abused by those whom their parents trusted as well #MySexuality

·        Sex abuse in children does not only include penetration, it involves fondling, exposing yourself in front of kids, sex trafficking, sex talks #MySexuality

·        It is not always easy to detect if your child has been sexually abused or not. The signs are often clouded #MySexuality

·        This is largely because a lot of the perpetrators of child abuse are people the parent ‘know and trust’ #MySexuality

·        It is however up to you to know your child enough to realize when something seems off about them #MySexuality

·        Look out for signs like bloody underwear/clothes, difficulty in walking/sitting #MySexuality

·        Signs like itchiness or burning in the genital areas, frequent occurrence of urinary tract infections #MySexuality

·        Other signs are withdrawal from people, depression, cringing when you want to touch them #MySexuality

·        Sudden bed-wetting, nightmares, aggression, regressive behaviours, truancy, suicidal signs #MySexuality

·        If you discover any of these signs, please please please, dialogue with your child gently #MySexuality

·        Sometimes, it might be a false alarm which has nothing to do with child sexual abuse, but more often than not, IT IS JUST THAT ‪#MySexuality

·        Also take them to a hospital to get them checked properly and do not leave them alone during examination by a doctor #MySexuality

·        I have heard (experienced) male doctors trying to get fresh with young female patients & then lying to their parents afterwards ‪#MySexuality

·        After being rebuffed, they would tell the parents lies about the young patients. Parents, please learn to believe your children ‪#MySexuality

·        As a parent, you CANNOT BE TOO CAREFUL in protecting your children . I'd rather be paranoid than nonchallant/careless ‪#MySexuality

·        The more you trust and believe your kids, the less the chances of them being preyed on. They know momma/dada's got their backs ‪#MySexuality

·        The more you trust and believe your kids, the less the chances of them being preyed on. #MySexuality

·        You must keep a constant communication channel between yourself and your children, always. #MySexuality

·        So many parents have absolutely NO idea that at some point or the other, their children have been abused sexually #MySexuality

·        I know because I have carried out researches on this and the figures are worrisome, I tell you. WORRISOME. ‪#MySexuality

·        I hope my tweets tonight would have helped & prevented at least ONE child from being sexually abused and ONE parent to be wary ‪#MySexuality

·        Thank you for your time. May God watch over us all as we watch over ourselves and kids. So many parents have absolutely NO idea that at some point or the other, their children have been abused sexually #MySexuality