Adult survivors who speak up about the abuse they experienced as children often face intense disbelief, harassment, and intimidation. These harsh reactions are part of why it is so hard to prevent and stop sexual violence – in our own communities and everywhere else.
Recently, I was interviewed about why sexual violence persists for an article called Silence Is Not A Solution: Why Child Rape Cases in Kazakhstan Are Closed Before Reaching Court. This article is a publication of the Solutions Journalism Lab Project, which has an excellent reputation for providing thoughtful, well-researched publications in Kazakhstan.
These key factors fuel sexual violence:
1. Denial and the Illusion of Safety. Many beliefs get in the way of recognizing and stopping abuse, such as: “This would NEVER happen here.” Or, “THAT wonderful person would NEVER do anything like that!” Or, “That’s NOT what really happened!” Or, “It wasn’t THAT bad.”
2. Fear of loss of reputation if a problem is made public and the risk of retaliation if someone speaks up. These concerns lead to the failure of families, schools, places of worship, organizations, businesses, communities, and governments to take effective action to protect the psychological and physical safety of children, women, and other vulnerable people.
3. Cultural and social norms that condone violence or abuse. In too many societies, children and women are treated as second-class citizens or worse. Their voices and opinions are disregarded. As a result, most sexual predators escape facing accountability for their destructive behavior. This is both a legal issue and also a deep social problem.
4. People who profit from sexual exploitation. Unscrupulous individuals and groups seek to gain money or power by sexually exploiting children, women, and vulnerable people – both online and in person.
5. Lack of understanding and skills among parents and other responsible adults. Many people don’t know how to protect the young people in their care from sexual predators or how to create safeguards that help prevent abuse in settings or activities with children. They may not recognize signs of potential abuse or know how to respond. Adults need to understand that sexual predators often use grooming tactics and charisma to build trust, create emotional connections, and lower the boundaries of families, schools, organizations, and the young people they target.
6. Children’s lack of personal safety knowledge and skills. It is important for adults to prepare children and teens with the knowledge and skills they need to recognize and avoid trouble, set and respect boundaries, stay safe with their feelings, resist emotional coercion and threats, develop healthy relationships, and be persistent in getting help.
Here is the link to the English version of the article: Silence Is Not A Solution: Why Child Rape Cases in Kazakhstan Are Closed Before Reaching Court. Please be aware that this article CONTAINS SENSITIVE CONTENT. In order to explain how sexual predators avoid prosecution, there are a few explicit descriptions of child sexual violence.
Please keep in mind that it is NOT emotionally safe to share stories like these with young people. Instead, please see: Four Strategies for Protecting Children From Sexual Predators and Touch and Consent in Healthy Relationships.
If you would like to see the original article in Kazakh, here is the link to one of the official web portals of Kazakhstan for this kind of publication: “Үнсіздік–шешім емес”: Балаларды зорлау істері неге сотқа жетпей жабылады
As terrible as this issue is, I am deeply grateful that Kidpower is being used in so many different parts of our world. We are excited to have a safety educator and preschool teacher in Kazakhstan who is currently in our online Training of Practitioners program and is starting to teach Kidpower skills in her country.
At Kidpower International, we want to express our heartfelt appreciation to people everywhere who are committed to preventing and stopping sexual violence and abuse!
Published: September 8, 2025 | Last Updated: September 8, 2025
Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director
Kidpower Founder and Executive Irene van der Zande is a master at teaching safety through stories and practices and at inspiring others to do the same. Her child protection and personal safety expertise has been featured by USA Today, CNN, Today Moms, the LA Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Publications include: cartoon-illustrated Kidpower Safety Comics and Kidpower Teaching Books curriculum; Bullying: What Adults Need to Know and Do to Keep Kids Safe; the Relationship Safety Skills Handbook for Teens and Adults; Earliest Teachable Moment: Personal Safety for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers; The Kidpower Book for Caring Adults: Personal Safety, Self-Protection, Confidence, and Advocacy for Young People, and the Amazon Best Seller Doing Right by Our Kids: Protecting Child Safety at All Levels.