The Humanity Preservation Foundation (HPF) was honored to speak at Rowan College Burlington County‘s “Take Back the Night” event. This took place on Tuesday April 24, 2018. The event was coordinated by the “Service Learning Students” (pictured). At Take Back the Night, president/co-founder of HPF, Rhett Hackett, spoke to a group of students and faculty. He told his personal story of child sexual abuse, his appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and consequently the launch of Humanity Preservation Foundation. His presentation included the topic of their recent campaign “HandsOFF” as well as the launch of their victim support project “PULSE.” PULSE app is available for download on android devices. Afterwards, Mr. Hackett participated in the “walk” around campus which is part of the Take Back the Night tradition. This walk represents a promise made by students and faculty that sexual violence isn’t going to be tolerated on college campuses. It encourages victims of sexual abuse to report it, speak up, and know that you are not alone. With the launch of their HandsOFF campaign, HPF has committed time to implementing awareness and resources across colleges and universities. HPF acknowledges that with so many acts of sexual and domestic violence happening at the college level, it is important that everyone does all they can to minimize the number of events. It is also important to understand the impact abuse has on those victimized. Additionally, Mr. Hackett stated that working with this age group, the next group to have children and become parents, will encourage them parenting differently then previous generations. In order to stop sexual and domestic abuse in future generations, we must start now with today’s youth. Learn more about Take Back the Night: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Back_the_Night_(organization)
How Is Vermont Protecting Your Children
Teresa is an advocate for Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, and a child abuse victim herself. It’s been almost 30 years since she moved to Vermont and away from a life she swore she’d leave behind. “There was a lot of physical and sexual abuse, all in relation to my surroundings,” says Teresa. “There was probably between 7 and 10 abuse cases that I went through…stepfather, uncle, neighbors, friends of friends.” Teresa teaches the nurturing program, offered through Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, an advocacy group geared towards stopping child abuse before it happens. “It teaches parents empathy and learning from past behaviors and how to change them.” It’s one resource you can turn to if you know of a potential child abuse, or neglect case. Reports in Vermont are going up. Data shows since 2014, 50% of children from birth to five years old came into state custody due to opioid abuse in their families. Teresa says the work is far from over to make sure another child doesn’t become another statistic. “They need to have more people listening to their stories and helping them out and not just giving them a number.” Read more of this article here: http://www.mychamplainvalley.com/news/child-abuse-prevention-month-how-is-vermont-protecting-your-kids/1146109353