child sexual abuse

This is a story about Roxanne, a fictitious young single mother who thinks she found the man of her dreams. It turns out he is a nightmare--a child sexual predator. But after initial denial, Roxanee trusts her instincts, and protects her daughter from sexual abuse. What if this were the norm post-Penn State?

Fifteen adults at Penn State--15 individual adults, all men--either witnessed directly or had knowledge of rape, sodomy, and assault of children by Jerry Sandusky and either did not act or whose actions were for naught. These include 12 adult men who were in positions of power, some of them members of law enforcement.

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In any particular abuse situation there is an abuser, a victim, and (almost always) bystanders. This is true in bullying, street violence, as well as child sexual abuse. One of the most important questions that the Penn State situation, and cases like it, raise is -- what is it about the nature of intimate sexual violence that stops so many bystanders from taking action?

Last night, the House Republicans banded together at the last minute on purely specious grounds to defeat legislation aimed at preventing child marriage worldwide.

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Roman Catholic Bishops in Connecticut are fighting a bill aimed at rescinding the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse. Yep.  You read that right.

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Continuing the pattern of the institutional Catholic Church's response to sexual abuse of children by priests in the United States, the Netherlands' Handelsblad.com reports that the Dutch Catholic Church for years ignored reports by children and families that sexual abuse of boys by priests was rife in Catholic schools.

Follow Jodi Jacobson on Twitter, @jljacobson