Comments on: An Open Letter to L.J. Williamson http://mekosh.org/2007/04/17/an-open-letter-to-lj-williamson The Online Home of Stephen Mekosh Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:54:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Stephen http://mekosh.org/2007/04/17/an-open-letter-to-lj-williamson#comment-3576 Stephen Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:53:04 +0000 http://mekosh.org/2007/04/17/an-open-letter-to-lj-williamson#comment-3576 Thanks for replying, Linda! The article you mentioned and highlighted with the quote really does bolster your argument---or perhaps led you to the argument. I had my doubts that keeping kids indoors would keep them safe considering the high percentage of child abuse perpetrated by family and trusted friends. Looking back at your website, it appears the <code>mailto:</code> link for your email address has extra characters after the ".com". I'm not sure if that was the reason my email to you bounced or if it was something else. Disregarding my snarky offer, I'd still be interested in working with you should you decide you'd like to do a little web remodeling. :) Thanks for replying, Linda! The article you mentioned and highlighted with the quote really does bolster your argument—or perhaps led you to the argument.

I had my doubts that keeping kids indoors would keep them safe considering the high percentage of child abuse perpetrated by family and trusted friends.

Looking back at your website, it appears the mailto: link for your email address has extra characters after the “.com”. I’m not sure if that was the reason my email to you bounced or if it was something else.

Disregarding my snarky offer, I’d still be interested in working with you should you decide you’d like to do a little web remodeling. :)

]]> By: L.J. Williamson http://mekosh.org/2007/04/17/an-open-letter-to-lj-williamson#comment-3574 L.J. Williamson Fri, 27 Apr 2007 20:34:38 +0000 http://mekosh.org/2007/04/17/an-open-letter-to-lj-williamson#comment-3574 Dear Mekosh, The most thorough study of possible explanations for the decline in child sexual abuse appears here: http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV58.pdf It's a lengthy but very interesting read. An excerpt from the conclusion: <blockquote>More attention has been focused on child sexual abuse during the past two decades than on any other form of child maltreatment. It should not be surprising that its decline would come before and be greater than that of other forms of maltreatment. Prevention and intervention efforts have included school-based prevention education, treatment programs for juvenile and adult offenders, and greatly enhanced resources for criminal justice investigation and prosecution. It is reasonable to think that, given the scale of these efforts, they have had some success in preventing or intervening in sexual abuse. </blockquote> The study describes many possible theories and concludes that the resultant reduction in sexual abuse is caused by a combination of factors. But nowhere is greater parental tendency to keep kids indoors mentioned as a major factor. If you want more info, here is a page with several more articles: http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/Child_Vic_Papers_pubs.html#Trends As for my website, I'm at a loss to explain why you were having difficulty, as I've received many letters from people such as yourself who read my article and successfully contacted me through my site. Best regards, Linda Williamson Dear Mekosh,

The most thorough study of possible explanations for the decline in child sexual abuse appears here:
http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV58.pdf

It’s a lengthy but very interesting read. An excerpt from the conclusion:

More attention has been focused on child sexual abuse during the past two decades than on any other form of child maltreatment. It should not be surprising that its decline would come before and be greater than that of other forms of maltreatment. Prevention and intervention efforts have included school-based prevention education, treatment programs for juvenile and adult offenders, and greatly enhanced resources for criminal justice investigation and prosecution. It is reasonable to think that, given the scale of these efforts, they have had some success in preventing or intervening in sexual abuse.

The study describes many possible theories and concludes that the resultant reduction in sexual abuse is caused by a combination of factors. But nowhere is greater parental tendency to keep kids indoors mentioned as a major factor.

If you want more info, here is a page with several more articles:
http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/Child_Vic_Papers_pubs.html#Trends

As for my website, I’m at a loss to explain why you were having difficulty, as I’ve received many letters from people such as yourself who read my article and successfully contacted me through my site.

Best regards,
Linda Williamson

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