Teaching children to resist abuse, particularly sexual abuse, is
a very popular child protection technique. A recent scoping
review of many popular programs, however, shows that few of them
are in line with recent research in the child protection field.
The most serious weakness that the study identified is that the
key message of the programs is that children have a responsibility
to protect themselves. What adults intend as empowerment
actually becomes just another source of responsibility and guilt.
The researchers concluded that programs need to revamp their
emphasis to avoid contributing to the already-existing shame and
guilt that survivors feel.
The review also noted several other flaws in most existing
programs:
