Sexual abuse has declined over the past 20 years, locally and nationally, yet thousands of children and adutls are still harmed by abusive sexual behaviors perpetrated mostly by men, adolescent and adults. There are prevention initiatives and a growing body of knowledge about strategies to prevent abuse. Current efforts are managed by small non-profit entities who struggle for adequate funding to maintain minimal programming. It seems to me that prevention of a harmful behavior like sexual abuse lies with a state department, such as the Department of Health, where epidemiological data could be gathered and used to inform programming.
