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	Child Abuse Target of Walkers London Free Press [Canada] May 22, 2006 http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/2006/05/22/1591737-sun.html TORONTO -- A bespectacled Rick Brazeau barely resembles the enlarged black and white photo of himself as a pre-teen about 40 years ago. Just eight months after the snapshot was taken in January 1963, Brazeau said his life was forever changed when he was sexually abused by his parish priest. "I wasn't the one who was abused. It was this 11-year-old child who didn't know what to say, didn't know what to do, didn't know how to speak out about it," he said. Brazeau joined nearly 100 people yesterday who took to the streets of Toronto for the inaugural Walk to Stop the Silence -- Stop Child Sexual Abuse, a fundraiser to encourage other abused children to speak out. Proceeds will benefit several organizations, including the Toronto Child Abuse Centre. Event organizer Joanne Vannicola has staged similar events in Washington, D.C., and worked for eight months to bring the walk north of the border. She said public dialogue is important to help alleviate the stigma of abuse. "Start talking with each other and talking to your children and talking openly about sexual violence and how to stop it," Vannicola said. A 1998 Canadian study of investigations of abuse by child welfare service providers estimated that 69 per cent of girls and 31 per cent of boys under the age of 16 involved in those cases had been abused. Brazeau said he hopes by speaking out about his experience, other victims will follow suit and the public will take notice. "I hope others will just listen, listen to the kids that don't have a voice, 'cause there are a lot of kids that are hurting," he said. "Most sexual abusers were abused, it goes on and on and on, and the only way we can break that chain is by saying 'No, we won't allow it anymore,' " he said.
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