But consider these numbers in the light of some very mundane situations, and it's even more alarming: on a soccer team of 16 girls, four girls may have been abused. In an elementary classroom with 18 boys, three boys may have been abused.
Salem author Shannon Riggs' new children's picture book, "Not in Room 204," was written to help diminish these figures.

"When I think about those numbers, I think about if this was a flu epidemic, it would be on the news every day. We would be getting shots for our kids, we would call out the National Guard, we would respond like the emergency it is ... but we're not; we're not responding at all," said Riggs. "Because the subject carries the weight of a cultural taboo, nobody talks about it."

A survivor of sexual abuse herself, Riggs wrote "Not in Room 204" as a call to action.  "It's a call to tell and to keep telling until you are heard," she said.

In the book, Regina Lillian Hadwig is a girl who is being sexually abused by her father. No one knows about it, and she doesn't know how to tell: "There were things that her father did that Regina Lillian Hadwig kept so quiet about, not even her mother knew," the book says. When Regina's teacher Mrs. Salvador gives the kids a lesson on stranger  danger, the teacher sets the book down and quietly tells the children that it isn't always a stranger.

"Usually, it's someone the child knows." This is the key that allows Regina, at the end of the book, to disclose her abuse to her teacher, who has assured her students that "If someone told me this happened to them, I know exactly what to do to help."
Published this spring and illustrated by Jaime Zollars, the book deals with the subject with extraordinary sensitivity, and from a perspective that children can understand.  

"Our children are taught a real myth about sexual abuse," said Riggs. "They're almost always taught that it's `stranger danger.' But when you look at the national statistics and research, it shows that the real offenders are people that you know, usually somebody in the family.

 "One reason kids don't tell is fear: in national sexual abuse studies, it's common for the abuser to threaten the child: to say they'll harm a love one, they'll kill a pet, the list goes on."

Salem therapist Denise Nejedlo, LSCW, who works frequently with abused kids, agreed.

"More often than not, the abuser is someone the child knows. Kids don't tell because the abuser may have told them that it's their fault, or that someone in the family will be hurt if they tell. They play on the child's vulnerability."

"Not in Room 204" teaches kids clearly that a safe person to tell is a teacher. In Oregon, teachers, doctors, therapists and most others who work with children are mandatory reporters; in other words, if a child discloses they are being abused, that person is required by law to contact authorities who can help.

The book also gives resources for parents or older children.

"Domestic violence centers, legal aid societies, sexual assault programs, therapists, all can help," said Riggs. "One book isn't going to solve this problem. But to have a book like this in a classroom, the school library, a doctor's or therapist's office, readily available and setting out for kids to read, is a step toward ending this tragedy.

"The act of telling takes the responsibility off the child," said Riggs. "It's not a child's responsibility, it's an adult's job."

Sara Wiseman writes on wellness, spirituality, parenting and design. Contact her at wiseman@open.org.