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	An Interview with Dr. Pamela Pine,founder of Stop the Silence: Stop Child Sexual Abuse, Inc By Jaime Romo Healing and Spirituality December 24, 2009 http://jjromo.wordpress.com/ Dr. Pamela Pine is the founder of Stop the Silence: Stop Child Sexual Abuse, Inc., a non-profit that works with numerous individuals, community-based and faith-based (CBOs and FBOs) organizations and governments in the U.S. and other countries to prevent and treat CSA in varied communities through research, training, education, advocacy, policy development and more. For more information, see http://www.stopcsa.org/ JR: How long have you been in the business of working to end Child Sexual Abuse and promote healing? What got you involved in this work? PP: I have been involved in this work for 10 years. In January of 2000, I started to get educated about CSA as a result of a proposal that came across my computer screen. I started reading about the numbers affected and the impact and wondered why I had not heard more about this epidemic, which affects one in three girls and one in six boys in the U.S. alone – and millions across the globe. I became impassioned with the idea that new and creative approaches were needed to increase societal awareness and address the pandemic. I approached a small, non-profit, service provision organization (Survivors Healing Center in Santa Cruz, California, which was co-founded by Amy Pine, my sister and a therapist, and Ellen Bass, a writer and poet, workshop leader, and co-author of The Courage to Heal), which provides individual and group counseling to survivors as well as community outreach, to join forces to develop a comprehensive program focused on CSA prevention and treatment. In 2002, with support from Futures Group, an international health company with which I was working at the time, Stop the Silence programming began as a coalition of multi-ethnic groups that came together to comprehensively address CSA locally, nationally, and internationally. Also in 2002, I wrote and the organizations working together to address the need in CA submitted a joint proposal to the California Endowment for funding to address the needs of Latinos given that there was no programming available to meet the specific needs of that community though it accounts for a majority of the population in Santa Cruz, where Survivors Healing Center is located. Funding was received for over $274,000 for a comprehensive project that addressed seven major components including research, counseling, advocacy, education, training, policy, and other prevention measures. The partnership forwarded methods for addressing the service needs of survivors of CSA, produced a training curriculum for service providers (Child Sexual Abuse: A Training for Service Providers), and developed advocacy, outreach and education programming. JR: What role do you think your organization is playing in ending abuse and promoting healing in the U.S.? PP: I think we are doing an admirable job of tackling a comprehensive approach. Stop the Silence was incorporated in 2004 so that the work begun could be further cultivated. The organization continues to work with numerous individuals, community-based and faith-based (CBOs and FBOs) organizations and governments in the U.S. and other countries to prevent and treat CSA in varied communities through research, training, education, advocacy, policy development and more. Current complimentary endeavors, which include evaluative components, are: We have compiled formal program evaluations as well as anecdotal evidence about the numbers reached by media and comments from the girls in Queendom T.E.A. showing the importance and impact of our programs, but we’d like to be doing so much more. It’s very hard to get the kind of support for programming that we need. People currently talk about generations needed to end the abuse – and that’s if we start now. There’s so much to do. JR: I’ve had the idea of ‘Million Survivor March’ to promote legislation to support healing and prevent and respond to abuse. I love the fact that you have organized a Race to Stop the Silence. What has been the impact you’ve seen on legislators or others as a result of this effort? PP: That’s interesting because there is a group that is trying to do just that. The Race to Stop the Silence has reached out successfully to policymakers and stakeholders. Stop the Silence was able to generate substantial support for our initial programming by reaching out to policymakers (Sharon Simone, a survivor of CSA and an educator and activist, did a lot of writing to policymakers) in conjunction with the planning of the first Race, and that has continued, shown by the involvement, for example, of the Surgeon General as keynote speaker one year at the Race. I came up with the idea of The Race to Stop the Silence in 2003 and I and Sharon Simone developed the first Race for April 2004. As noted, this annual (six through 2009) Race is an upbeat, educational and motivational event that brings in support from government, corporate (e.g., Pepsi, Calvert Bank), foundation (Ms. Foundation, Snowshoe Mountain Foundation) and private individuals, attracts over 1,200 people, draws speakers such as the U.S. Surgeon General, and garners extensive media coverage in the National Capital Area (e.g., local ClearChannel programs, local Comcast, Washington Post, Channels 4, 8,9, 76, various runners’ journals, and much more), throughout the U.S. and even globally (through the Internet), and reaches both policymakers and the public alike through that media. The media generated allows Stop the Silence staff and volunteers to speak out to millions in the Capital Area and other locations about the realities of CSA while inviting and catalyzing a public and a community response. JR: When you were in California, you worked to support Latino communities in dealing with abuse. I’ve often thought that some Latino communities are a sleeping giant with respect to abuse issues, particularly religious authority abuse issues. What do you think will lance this wound of silence and promote healing in this group PP: I was not located in CA, but traveled out there occasionally after the grant I wrote won the award from the California Endowment to conduct programming focused on the Latino population there. The programming was implemented by Survivors Healing Center. I provided technical assistance for the implementation of that grant – training, evaluation assistance and the like. But, with regard to your question, yes, some Latino communities (and many other communities), have a great deal of difficulty speaking out about CSA – and there are many reasons for this, as there are many similar reasons for other individuals and groups not speaking out: fear, shame, stigma, etc. In some Latino communities, there are some added difficulties that include immigration status, coupled with economic issues, coupled with cultural issues, like Machismo. If someone is afraid of being shunned by one’s community and has no money and is not in this country legally and the person’s primary language is not English and they are afraid of getting hit or otherwise abused physically or sexually, it is easy to understand why it is even more difficult to know what to do or who to call on for help. What do I think will lance this wound? I think we need to pay special attention to some of these barriers and very carefully design education and outreach programs that address particular populations’ needs – and make sure that we have the services to back up any program that we implement. So, if we say, “You can go here for help and they will be able to help you,” we better make sure that knowledgeable, Spanish-speaking help is available and that the people there to help know what to do and can actually address the situation without making it worse. JR: What do you think are some of the most significant changes that give you hope around ending clergy abuse and promoting healing for all in the past 10 years? PP: There have been positive developments and there is also a long way to go. In the last few years, Stop the Silence has conducted training, and representatives of churches have sometimes been there, whereas very early on, I could not get anyone involved from the churches – they were too afraid and uncomfortable, I think. And, I’ve seen and heard of other faith groups tackling this issue head on – encouraging survivors to report, removing known offenders from the church, writing letters of support for informational books, etc. But there is so much more to be done. Stop the Silence still has a very hard time getting churches on board. Sometimes people come forward to volunteer who are a part of a church and they reach out to their individual churches or communities about the prevention and treatment of CSA. For example, we have a volunteer in North Carolina who reached out to a colleague of hers with a blog on religious matters and he will be posting some information, and she also has reached out to her own church with positive results. Also, one of our Board members, Carmen Arias, reached out through the Spanish-speaking church community in Virginia and they put a great deal of information about CSA on their Web site and spoke out about it publicly. We need to sustain that effort, however – in all communities. And, honestly, in order to do that, we need some real resources to be put behind our and others’ efforts. We’re working hard on that and welcome any help on that front. JR: You’re trained as an international public health and communication specialist. What do you think that therapists or others who wish to support survivors need to understand and do differently that would make a big difference for survivors? PP: Primarily, I think people need to understand the depth of confusion, shame, fear, and trauma that CSA causes and be trained to deal with the realities of that. CSA is not something you simply “forget” or “get over” or “grow out of.” Most survivors are dealing with it decades after it happens – and many, many never speak of the abuse to anyone in their lifetimes, and many, many only come forward about it after decades of trying to “stuff it.” At some point, they find that their lives are unraveling and they can no longer keep it down, so they finally come forward for help. Many survivors wind up in therapists’ offices for drug or alcohol or depression or anger symptoms – and the underlying issue turns out to be a history of child sexual abuse that had occurred decades earlier. There are those who wind up in doctors’ or therapists’ offices but the clinician or therapist never asks the question: “Were you ever sexually abused as a child?” Given the level of negative outcomes that include depression, PTSD, psychosis, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, homicide, and other self-destructive behaviors, etc., it seems like this should be a standard question asked at an early point in the therapy in a way that does not trigger or traumatize the client or patient. But then, the person on the receiving end of the answer needs either to know what to do about addressing the problem or know who to refer the person to who does know. JR: Can you talk about some of your spiritual journey or development as an advocate or survivor supporter, particularly in the past few years? PP: Thank you for the question; it’s an important one for all of us who are working on this issue. There is much that we and those working with us are so proud of: raising mass awareness, addressing kids who are at risk, providing information to judges and others. And, we have come to understand something about why CSA occurs and what to do about it, though one has to ask for strength from whatever entity one calls upon to go on. I ask the universe: What has happened to the human species, because I can’t really think of another species that behaves this way to its young. But we do know a lot and there has been quite a bit of movement on the prevention and treatment fronts over the last decade, and that gives me some hope. I also rely on the collective good will and energy of those I work with to propel us forward. At times, I feel like I have grown as a person; I have additionally recognized how much of the path that we walk is determined by what is done to us and what we experience when we are young, and I try, in my day-to-day life, to be more understanding and sympathetic and empathetic with others. Sometimes I am successful, sometimes not. I continue to try. But, I guess that the thing that really frustrates me is the fact that I know what we could do if we had the resources to do it – and we don’t. I want to kick this all forward. We want to do more because if we don’t, it just keeps going, generation to generation. I guess there is a real sadness that I feel that goes along with the frustration of not being able to do more. All you have to do to get where I am on a regular basis is to imagine your own kids being manipulated and abused in this way; the tears do come and you’re left shaking your head feeling a real deep sadness for those you cannot help. Yesterday, I went to an elementary school to speak to the kids, and this is what the guidance counselor and teachers told me: that the “little ones” are trying to have sex with each other in the bathrooms (this is not typical behavior for a seven year old – it is learned). A teacher came by to thank me “because I am a survivor and I know how much abuse is occurring with these kids.” So, I ask your readers and any policymaker who happens to be one of them: Is this an issue that we can afford not to address?? If it were contagious, wouldn’t we be “all over it”? If the issue was not so intimidating and objectionable, if it didn’t make us, as adults, so uncomfortable, sad confused, and threatened, wouldn’t we do more about it? If kids could vote, what do you think would happen? These things are a part of the journey that I walk on that really sadden and frustrate me. But, rather than end that question on a sad or negative or frustrated-sounding note, I want to say that there is a lot being done by many, and we will all continue to do more. One has to believe that one can make a difference – and I do. JR: Are there some issues that are particularly challenging with some of the groups you work with as they go through the process of reporting and healing from their abuse? PP: It is all challenging… Overall, my frustration lies more with the social conditions that impact individuals across groups that allow us to be afraid to speak up, rather than the victims and survivors who are going through the process of reporting and healing from their abuse. Survivors travel the road that they must travel in their own time to heal. But the social conditions are really what get me… The media needs to get more on board with the reporting of how most CSA is occurring – not only the “stranger danger” but the fact that CSA occurs mostly within our own communities and homes (90-94 percent of the abuse occurs in the communities and by our families!). The religious institutions (and across all religious because this is certainly not a “Christian issue”) need to really step up and take responsibility and protect the kids, and let everyone know what they are doing to do that. Years ago, male doctors were allowed in exam rooms alone with their female patients but that is no longer the case… Why do we allow relative strangers in the presence of our children without safety measures? The courts (all courts – Family, Juvenile, Civil, Criminal) and all those associated with them (social workers, Guardian Ad Litems, lawyers) need to get training to understand this issue. Decisions are being made about outcomes for kids (placement with a parent, into foster care, for therapy – or not) without a full understanding about relevant issues, e.g., that children hardly ever make up sexual abuse (a seven year old, for example, should not have the knowledge about intricate sexual details to report these kinds of things in any specific manner – and if they do have that ability, we need to ask ourselves why?!), or why a child would recant the abuse, or why a mother (for example – there are certainly protective fathers as well) looks like she is falling apart when a father who has been accused of CSA looks calm, cool, and collected in the court room. And, our communities… We all need to get back to a place where we protect each others’ kids. This is true across cultures. We do not live in a vacuum though we behave sometimes as if we do. “It’s not our problem,” or “It’s not my responsibility,” or “It’s not my business,” are just not acceptable answers to suspected abuse. Why don’t we ask our policymakers what they are going to do about this issue when they are running for re-election? If for no other reason, we have to take responsibility because someone else’s kid abused will impact us all one way or another in the aftermath of the abuse – emotionally, socially, and economically. JR: What progress are you seeing in the healing process of those with whom you work? What seems to be helping? PP: Our direct service work right now is mostly with teens. There are some other groups working primarily with adults (e.g., Survivors Healing Center) and others who deal with kids (e.g., Safe Shores – the D.C. Children’s Advocacy Center and a whole bunch of advocacy centers across the U.S.). What we have seen from Queendom T.E.A. described a bit above is that our programming that reaches out to these 13-19 year old girls. Girls in that program have told us how much the program (which meets twice a week over a year’s period per group to discuss issues defined as important to those involved) means to them – to the point that girls’ have reported the likely taking of their own life had it not been for the program. As for the many, many survivors who come forward to work with us and volunteer, I have seen enormous progress over time in them. The first step in a mile, as the saying goes, starts with a single step. It’s a tough journey, but many are firmly on the road to recovery. JR: Thank you for your work, example, and commitment to end Child Sexual Abuse. PP: You are most welcome.
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