Stop child sexual abuse through global education

LaQuisha Hall, Mrs. Maryland Galaxy at the RAWLifing Championships held at the Capital Sports Complex in Prince George's County, MD.

The RAWLifting championships were held in 2009 and plans are underway to bring it back. It helped Stop the Silence reach out to primarilhy men with information about CSA.

The Race to Stop the Silence began in 2004 as a result of research on how to raise awareness about an issue that no one wants to talk about! It attracts more than 1,000 each year, attracts well-known speakers and survivors to help inform, and garners substancial media to raise awareness.

Queendom is a community-based program serving at-risk teens 13-19 years old. The focus is on raising self-esteem through year-long sessions that bring in female community leaders to speak about subjects identified anonymously by the girls, including CSA.

To Kill A Kelpie, a play by Matthew McVarish, a Scottish playwright, actor, and musician, about two brothers who never spoke about the sexual abuse they both endured as 6-year-old boys, was inspired by the Stop the Silence campaign, performed to sold-out audiences in Scotland, and brought to and performed in the U.S. (San Francisco, Chicago, and DC) with rave reviews from theatre-goers through a grant from HHS and matching support by Adam and Partners Investment Advisors.

Matt during To Kill a Kelpie after-show discussion in U.S.

Members of the panel in the after-show discussion of To Kill A Kelpie in DC -- the audience discussion went on for nearly 2 hours! The results of the audience evaluation showed a definitive increase in awareness, knowledge, and intent to act.

Photo from Progress Report 'Stop the Silence Fall 2012 Report'

Photo from Progress Report 'Stop the Silence Fall 2012 Report'