Organizations for Good: S.E.S.A.M.E.

About S.E.S.A.M.E.

S.E.S.A.M.E., or Stop Educator Sexual Abuse Misconduct & Exploitation, is a leading national organization that works to prevent sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment of students by teachers and other school staff.

S.E.S.A.M.E. provides support for survivors of sexual abuse, as well as their friends and families.S.E.S.A.M.E. also strives to educate teachers and school workers on how to prevent, identify, and respond to sexual abuse in schools.

Their Mission Statement

One of S.E.S.A.M.E.’s main priorities is preventing educators who have been investigated for sexual abuse from moving on to new jobs at different schools. They call this practice “passing the trash,” and believe ending it is crucial to ending sexual abuse in schools.

S.E.S.A.M.E. also works toward the following goals, according to their website:

• Increasing public awareness of educator sexual abuse by breaking the silence in a strong and united voice.
• Fostering recovery of survivors through mutual support and access to information.
• Encouraging survivors of educator sexual abuse to report their offenders to local law enforcement officials and state education department credentialing offices.
• Insisting upon implementation of and adherence to child-centered educator sexual abuse policies, regulations and laws.
• Directing attention to the maintenance of proper boundaries between school staff and students by promoting annual training, the adoption of professional standards and codes of ethics.

How to Support S.E.S.A.M.E.

S.E.S.A.M.E. invites those who are concerned about sexual abuse in schools to become an advocate.

• PARENTS. Parents can help further S.E.S.A.M.E.’s mission by educating themselves and their children about sexual abuse and schools. Parents can talk to the administrators and instructors who supervise their children at school about appropriate boundaries. S.E.S.A.M.E. suggests that parents request that their child never be alone with an educator. S.E.S.A.M.E. also suggests that parents inform school officials that they will call the police if any problems arise, and will file a civil lawsuit against perpetrators and anyone who enables, aids, or abets child sexual abuse.
• SCHOOLS. Members of the school board and/or the parent-teacher organization should urge schools to adopt policies and practices that will minimize or eliminate the problem of educator sexual abuse. These policies and practices might include: (1) mandatory annual training on sexual abuse prevention and reporting for all students, parents, and teachers, (2) a policy prohibiting school employees from being alone with students, (3) a policy prohibiting or strictly limiting touching of students by educators, (4) psychological testing in the hiring process, and (5) disciplinary consequences for employees who fail to report suspected sexual abuse.
• GOVERNMENT. S.E.S.A.M.E. also encourages supporters to lobby state and national elected officials to issue legislation aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse in schools. For more information on S.E.S.A.M.E.’s lobbying efforts, visit their legislation page.

Donate to S.E.S.A.M.E.

S.E.S.A.M.E. depends on donations from supporters. To learn how to donate to S.E.S.A.M.E., click here.

Connect with S.E.S.A.M.E.

You can connect with S.E.S.A.M.E. on Facebook and Twitter.

Estey & Bomberger Represents Victims of Sexual Abuse in Schools

We believe that no child should have to live through the horrors of sexual abuse at the hands of a teacher, educator, school administrator, or school employee. For this reason, we support S.E.S.A.M.E.’s outstanding mission.

As readers of this blog know, Estey & Bomberger represents those who have suffered sexual abuse in schools in civil lawsuits against school districts and other parties responsible for the abuse. To learn more about how we help survivors of sexual abuse in schools, click here.