CHAPEL HILL-The Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA is sponsoring several free training sessions on how to prevent sexual abuse in children.

Executive Chapel Hill Carrboro-YMCA Branch Director Kim Grooms says these programs are important because they might help Chapel Hill residents become more willing to talk about sexual abuse.

“The biggest thing with child sexual abuse is, for so long, it’s been taboo to talk about it,” she says. “Part of Darkness To Light’s goal is to make sure it’s not a taboo subject. It needs to be talked about because the more we discuss it, the more aware we are of the statistics that are there.”

One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before age 18. To combat the problem, the YMCA is partnering with a non-profit group called Darkness To Light, whose mission is to end sexual abuse in children. Next month, the two groups will host a child sexual assault prevention meeting at the YMCA Children’s Center. They will also offer free sexual assault prevention training sessions to go along with Darkness To Light’s prevention campaign entitled “Stewards of Training.”

At the sessions, representatives from the groups will go over the economic and social impact of child sexual abuse. They will also talk about what kinds of situations might lend themselves to sexual abuse in children, as well as the signs that a child might be in an abusive situation.

Grooms says all too often, sexual abuse comes from unexpected places.

“It’s no longer the scary guy or the stranger that we’re worried about,” she says. “With ninety percent of the kids who are abused, it’s by people they know. That, for me, was alarming.”

Grooms adds that any adults will benefit from these programs, whether they have children or not.

“We are trying to target youth serving organizations such as schools and daycares,” she says. “They have staff that work with children, and if you take the statistics of one in four and one in six, chances are, someone in that group of kids they’re caring for is probably silently dealing with sexual abuse.”

The prevention meeting will take place September 28 at the YMCA Children’s Center on Sunrise Road. The trainings will take place September 8 and September 21, also at the Children’s Center.