Shattering the stigma of abuse, 200 men are stepping forward and speaking out-some for the first time-about the trauma of their own childhood sexual abuse in a special two-part episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Tyler Perry, returns for a groundbreaking discussion on Friday, November 5, and Friday, November 12, as fathers, husbands, sons and brothers open up like never before about the pain of being molested, their anguish about hiding their pain and the many ways in which their abuse has affected their lives and their relationships.
Said Winfrey: “Two years ago, we did a story in O magazine about men being molested and the affect it had on their wives, partners and girlfriends. And Tyler said to me, ‘You should do a show about that.’ So that is how this began.” She continued, “In my 25 years of doing this, I’m more proud of these two shows than almost anything else I’ve done in my career. These are two of the most phenomenal shows I’ve ever done.”
D2L was in Chicago a couple of months ago to meet with the producers putting this show together. We were happy to connect them with male survivors and are thrilled that a number of our friends participated in the taping of the show! The producers told us they would be including D2L as one of the supplemental resources on the Oprah website.
We are hopeful that these powerful episodes will inspire people to be part of the solution – PREVENTION! Child sexual abuse doesn’t have to happen – we can make it stop right now. It takes 2 1/2 hours to take our Stewards of Children training. A small investment of time will teach you how to prevent, recognize and react to child sexual abuse. Knowledge you can use right now to help keep children safe.
Please help us spread the word! Watch the show this Friday and next Friday and then speak up about prevention – share this blog, Tweet about it, Facebook, etc. The show will be powerful and will yet again show how traumatic sexual abuse is and the lasting impact it has on one’s life. But let’s not stop there – the critical message that needs to get out is that SEXUAL ABUSE CAN BE PREVENTED. Knowing the consequences of abuse is a start, but learning how to prevent it from happening is what our children need most.
If you haven’t taken the training, please take the time to do it. You can take Stewards of Children online anytime by clicking here or see the schedule of upcoming live sessions being taught in your area here.
Together, we can keep our children safe!
