Hi. So my 13 year old daughter and 6 year old son are Cali visiting their Gramma for the summer. Yesterday, she takes them to Ole Vera Street in Los Angeles (a very popular tourist spot), my daughter found a stand where she could make her own bracelet and as she is walking towards it she noticed something/someone has grabbed her butt. She turned around and saw a man behind her, she kept walking thinking it was an accident...however this man continued to grab her bottom over and over. She got scared and ran to her Gramma and told her what he had been doing, and as soon as she ran to tell someone...he ran off. I talk to her every night on the phone before they go to bed and when she told me this...I felt horrible! I felt like I had failed to protect her, and the thought of someone putting their hands on my child...fills me with and an unexplainable amount of rage! To have to hear my child tell me that someone did something like that to her and to have to hear how scared that made her feel and know that I'm not there to comfort her...just makes realize that this can happen to anyone!! You hear of things like this happening to people all the time..and sometimes worse things, I am so thankful she knew to run and tell her Gramma what had happened. But this raises many questions and concerns in my head, what if he had taken her? What if he had done worse to her? Who is he going to do that to next? He ran...like a coward...he just took off, which means he the chance to do this to someone else. I never thought this would be something I'd have to hear from my kids, but I am glad that I talk to my children about these things and that they know what to do. We live in Arizona, and Arizona is in the top 4 rated states for the highest sex crimes in the US, most of it consists of Kidnapping and child sex trafficking...so it is my duty to educate my children on how to keep themselves safe out there.
Please talk to your children, it's not always easy having these conversations with them but it can save their lives if they're ever in a situation like this or worse. Sexual assault or violence of any kind to anyone is NEVER OK!!! Educate yourselves and your children, tell them to call the appropriate authorities/foundations, 911, RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) 800.656.HOPE (4673), these are just a couple of many out there that you can reach out to. Don't ever be scared to alert someone if you have been abused or harmed in any way.