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	Surviving Child Abuse WIAT November 11, 2011 http://www.cbs42.com/content/localnews/story/Surviving-Child-Abuse/sAt1Buo-10KmYiGKmxmPsQ.cspx [with video] "It's not their fault." -- Cheryl Jackson, child abuse survivor BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) -- Cheryl Jackson has a beautiful smile. But there was a time in her life when she resented her looks. She blamed herself for what a male teacher did to her. "They stand behind you and they press themselves against you," Cheryl says. She thought she could trust a teacher, but surely, her pastor would be an honorable man. She was wrong. "He said he was gonna go in and talk to me about the different things we would be doing at the (missionary) convention and that I needed to come to his room," she says. "So I went to the room." Cheryl was only sixteen when her pastor made sexual advances toward her. An estimated 90 percent of child sex abuse victims know already know their perpetrator. That's why it's essential for children to know that it's ok to talk about it. "Teach them that their body is a sacred space and that no one should violate that space," Therapist Carol White explains. She says adults who were abused as children are more likely to be involved in sexually reactive behavior, addictions and repeated unhealthy relationships. "You grow up and you carry that shame and self-doubt and it alters the way you see the world," White says. But Cheryl is adding something positive to the world. She runs a non-profit dedicated to educating the community about child abuse. "Share with the children to let them know that it's not their fault and that it's ok to go and talk to someone," Cheryl says. That's Cheryl's mission -- promoting awareness so that child abuse doesn't remain a secret.
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