4th annual Broward AWARE! Protecting OUR Children awareness campaign press conference
Thursday, 01/09/2014 – 10:00 am – 11:00 am
ARC Broward
10250, NW 53rd Street,
Sunrise, Florida 33351
Webpage Link
Cost: Free

Author Looks To Provide Voice Regarding Childhood Sexual Abuse

Miami-FL-Every two minutes someone is sexually assaulted. Author, childhood sexual abuse (CSA) survivor and activist Julie Marie Mansfield is set to kick-off her Catalyst Series that will help engender meaningful dialogue and healing to those impacted by CSA. Mansfield will speak at the 4th annual Broward AWARE! Protecting OUR Children awareness campaign press conference on January 9, 2014, at 10am at (ARC Broward-10250, NW 53rd Street, Sunrise, FL 33351). Broward AWARE! Protecting OUR Children’s awareness campaign ensures Broward County families, educators, media, law enforcement and all stakeholders use and share resources that make it possible for children to safely realize their full potential, hopes and dreams.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is estimated that 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before age 18, and only 20% of these cases are reported to the police. Ninety-three percent of children know and trust their abusers.

To help reignite the dialogue about the pervasiveness of CSA, Mansfield recently released her book Maybe God Was Busy (Amazon.com). The book traces her journey growing up behind the tourist veil of Jamaica, one of the most beloved islands in the world. It is a raw, unaltered look at an idyllic childhood interrupted by constant sexual abuse. From molestation, to incest, to sex with the “church brother,” to sex with the voodoo practitioner charged with saving a dying brother, to a pregnancy and abortion—sans anesthesia—at age 15, everything is revealed. Maybe God Was Busy is truly raw and authentic—a memoir saturated with abuse, survival, forgiveness, triumph and redemption—and yes laughter.

Mansfield’s Catalyst Series will include talks and book readings throughout the United States, the UK and the Caribbean, and will to inspire communities to mobilize to educate, empower and become agents of change to protect and prevent all children from CSA.

“The more we remain silent, the more predators attack. Silence is a breeding ground, telling people who prey on kids that we are all complicit in their crimes,” Mansfield says. “By openly and honestly discussing the ravages of CSA, we can and will bring change to how victims heal, how they shake the shame and guilt so often associated with CSA.”

Maybe God Was Busy is being hailed by critics as a major work in exposing childhood sexual abuse, constant sexual abuse and incest. Amazingly the book also finds ways of expressing humor as Mansfield does in her workshops, even while battling these horrific manifestations.

Since she wrote the book many persons; men and women; have come out of the shadows of shame and hurt and thanked her for giving them inspiration. For more information about Julie Mansfield and Give me Dignity, visit www.givemedignity.org.
Media inquiries: Harris Public Relations at 786.897.8854 or yvette@harrispublicrelations.com

About Children’s Service Council of Broward
The CSC’s focus is Broward’s children. We are a special government created by the voters of Broward County in September 2000 to provide leadership, coordination and funding for services for and on behalf of children.
For information call Andrew Leone at 954.377.1119 or visit www.211-broward.org and www.cscbroward.org.

The partners for the 4th annual Broward AWARE! Protecting OUR Children awareness campaign include Children’s Services Council, Department of Children and Families, ChildNet, Broward Sheriff’s Office, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies, Healthy Families, Broward County Public Schools, Broward County Nancy J. Cotterman Sexual Assault Treatment Center, Broward County Human Trafficking Coalition, HandsOn Broward, Children’s Home Society, Legal Aid of Broward County, Guardian Ad Litem, Children’s Diagnostics and Treatment Center, 2-1-1 Broward, ARC Broward and more.
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