Run and Rally to Stop the Silence About Child Sexual Abuse (CSA)

19 April 2009 9:29pm Manila time (9:29am Washington DC time)

I'm literally running to post this article in time to catch the 6th staging of the Annual International Run and Rally to Stop the Silence ... About Child Sexual Abuse (CSA). I just stumbled upon the announcement of the event by marj at Bloggers Unite. The race is already underway by now but there's still time to catch it if you're in the Washington DC area. Here's a part of marj's announcement:

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a silent epidemic throughout the United States and the world, creating social havoc - for the children, adult survivors, and society. It can be prevented and it can be treated, but a conscious and sustained effort is both missing and essential.

On April 19, 2009, we are holding the Run and Rally to Stop the Silence –

And we'd like you all to come! This 6th Annual Event - the Race, Run and Rally to Stop the Silence - will be held from 8:00 am to approximately 12:00 am on Sunday, April 19, 2009 in West Potomac Park in Washington DC.

The race website presents this disturbing and alarming information:

The following are U.S. statistics, but we know from the research that has been done that these types of statistics are similar in many and likely most parts of the world.

• 73 percent of prostitutes were sexually abused before the age of 16;
• 83 percent of convicted killers (men and women) were physically and emotionally abused as children, and 32.2 percent were sexually abused;
• 60 percent of teenage mothers were sexually abused as children;
• 43 percent of runaways are sexually abused;

I'm posting below images of the two-page PDF file for the race (please click on the images to enlarge them):

Past sponsors of the event may be found here. For more information, go to the Run and Rally website.

From the Philippines, a salute of solidarity to the people of the United States and other participating countries in the staging of this very important event to help wipe out the scourge of child sexual abuse!