BY Lashonne Outten, Guardian Staff Reporter

lashonne@nasguard.com

The cycle of abuse is going to continue if parents and gaurdians of the victims of these types of crimes do not speak up said an American sexual asssult activist.

Angela Rose, who was the keynote speaker at a forum on sexual assault held at the British Colonial Hilton on Monday highlighted that a lot of parents whose children report sexual abuse to them usually ignore their child's cry for help by turning them away. She exclaimed that many parents behave in this manner because they want to keep everything quiet and they do not know how to deal with the situation.

"The current statistics reported that generally 1 in 3 women will encounter sexual abuse before they are 18-years-old," she explained. "If we are going to shatter the silence of sexual violence we need to encourage men and women, especially men to speak up and to not take that anymore."

According to Ms Rose, who is a survivor of sexual assault she founded an organization called 'Promoting Awareness Victim Empowerment' (PAVE), which is a multi-chapter organization that uses social, educational, and legislative tactics to raise awareness on sexual abuse, rape, and incest.

She expressed the view that sexual assault is a major issue that never gets enough attention from members of the public. However, she emphasized that there needs to be a change in the attitude of the public because sexual assault is not only a crime against a victim's body. But instead, is a crime that rips away at a victim's mind and soul.

Moreover, she noted that in order for the sexual assault and abuse cycle to be broken people must become brave and speak up about their ordeal no matter what, even if the aggressor is a family member.

"When people think of sexual assault they usually think of strangers. Strangers do commit sexual assault. However, that's not the norm. This type of assault is usually committed by someone the victim knows," she said.

Sidney Strachan, founder of 'No Excuse Bahamas' the organization that coordinated the forum said his organization's aim is to raise awareness about sexual violence and find ways to address violence and abuse. He exclaimed that the No Excuse Bahamas organization organized the event in an attempt to stop the cycle of sexual abuse and assault, by taking those issues from the back burner and placing them to the forefront.

"I am hoping that we are able to raise the type of awareness that would encourage people to come forward and speak out about abuse," he said.