Documentary on sexual abuse, “Darkness to Light,” to be shown at Mahomet Public Library

Do you know how to protect your child from a sexual predator?

Are you, or is someone you love, going through the steps of healing from sexual abuse?

One in 10 children in the United States will be sexually abused before the age of 18.

And the Mahomet Persisterhood wants to do something about that alarming statistic.

The group touched base with the RACES (Rape Advocacy, Counseling, & Education Services) program — which has the resources to educate local adults and school-aged children — in Urbana last fall to see how they could make a difference locally.

Over the winter months, the group worked to plan events and awareness campaigns throughout the month of April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

To kick off April, yard signs and awareness posters were spread throughout the community. The group will also distribute sexual abuse awareness magnets and teal ribbons, symbolizing sexual abuse awareness, throughout the Mahomet community.

Signs and ribbons are also available at Paint Like Me.

On April 15, the group hopes to move Mahomet residents to understand the impact a campaign like this can make.

“Darkness to Light: Stewards of Children,” a two-hour documentary, will be shown at the Mahomet Public Library on April 15 at 2 p.m. This event is open to anyone over 18 years old, and there is no charge for admission.

Targeted towards caretakers of young children, “Darkness to Light” tells powerful stories of sexual abuse survivors while also educating viewers on five steps to eradicate sexual abuse: learn the facts, minimize opportunity, talk about it, recognize the signs and react responsibly.

The Mahomet Persisterhood believes this documentary is a companion to Erin’s Law, which since 2013 has mandated child sex-abuse education in Illinois schools.

Mahomet resident and Persisterhood member Maggie Kinnamon said educating children on the sanctity of body is a great place to start.

“I personally think that it is time for us to start teaching kids at a young age that ‘my body is my body,’ ” Kinnamon said.

A mother of three and an Urbana teacher, Kinnamon said that with the education she’s recently received, she is reevaluating her interactions with children.

“I’ve made assumptions over the years,” Kinnamon said. “ ‘This child would want a hug,’ and now I’m really shifting in my mind of always asking. In the past, if I saw a kid who was (emotionally) sad, I might just go give them a hug because I could see that they needed one. And now, I’ll approach them and say ‘You look really sad would you like to have a hug?’

“I think that, especially with girls, we give this message that you have to go along (when someone wants to touch you).”

Kinnamon said that because children have very little that they are in control of in their life, they need to know that interactions with their body are something that they should have a say in.

“It’s so important for them to understand no one is allowed to touch your body for any reason if it’s not okay with you,” Kinnamon said.

Mahomet resident Tanya Knauff, who went to the preview of “Darkness to Light” at a Carle facility in Urbana on March 12, said it’s also important that children hear this message from multiple adult sources throughout their childhood.

“They trust their teachers, they trust the other adults around them,” Knauff said. “They need to have adults they trust. If we never talk about it, you can never make a difference. If you don’t bring awareness, you cannot make a difference.”

Both Kinnamon and Knauff talked about the importance of talking to children about appropriate and inappropriate touches and about using their voice in regards to a touch in order to protect the child should the potential for abuse occur.

“If someone comes to the door, we teach children to give that person a hug,” Kinnamon said.

“But they may not want to give ‘someone’ a hug because that person may have touched them inappropriately, last week ” Knauff said.

The group hopes that more regular and natural conversations about consent or personal invasion will also provide space for those who have been abused more to talk when or if something does happen to them.

“There are so many reasons people don’t want to talk: they aren’t believed or they are discounted,” Kinnamon said.

For Knauff, to raise awareness about sexual abuse is to educate caregivers on all of the possible ways their child might be in a situation where he/she could be abused.

“I want parents to think about all of the interactions and possibilities their child could be in that would present an opportunity to be sexually assaulted,” she said. “I want people to stop and think, do I let my child go off with ‘this person’ to the ice cream store for hours on end? Do I ask my sister’s boyfriend to babysit? I want people to stop and think what they do every day in their life, are they putting their children in a risky situation?”

But sexual abusers aren’t always on the outside of the family. Research shows that children are more likely to be sexually abused by someone they know, including relatives and family friends, than by a stranger.

Knauff also said that some children or adults don’t disclose that they have been abused because they worry it might break up a family or because a child knows that the family’s status comes from the family breadwinner, who is the abuser.

With increased conversation, the Persisterhood hopes that the cycle of sexual abuse will end.

“If you identify it and know about it, you can break the cycle, One of the common factors in child abuse is that it’s repeated,” Knauff said. “So if you don’t talk about it and deal with it, it may be repeated.”

For those who have been sexually abused and are still working through the healing process, Knauff said “Darkness to Light” is a safe place for victims to begin or continue with their recovery.

“If anyone hasn’t resolved their issues, it was really powerful for them to hear other survivors,” Knauff said.

“The children that have been abused somewhere in their life and have never resolved it, this is a step to say there is a life after abuse, it does not have to define you, it does not have to control you and the best place for most people to deal with it is to talk about it,” she continued.

While a viewing of one movie will not end sexual abuse, the Persisterhood believes that consistent talks, knowledge and education will eventually eradicate it.

“If we raise the generation that you can end it by knowing the signs, knowing the stats, knowing what the typical perpetrator looks like, then how to report it and how to give help, then we can end it,” Knauff said.

The Mahomet Persisterhood will continue to provide educational opportunities in the Mahomet area throughout the year.

“I think that awareness can only be a good thing because it can only help people understand that things don’t just happen to you, but to other people, this kind of behavior is not okay, and if it is happening you should talk about it,” Kinnamon said.

“By telling our stories we can make an impact.”