Our kids’ personal safety, where do we even begin? Child sexual assault prevention - with Alison Geale, CEO of Bravehearts
6/29/202653 min
We speak to Alison Geale, CEO of Bravehearts, who works to provide a holistic approach to the prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse. This is a big but important topic and we’ve gathered your top questions to help educate us on having personal safety conversations with our kids. We discuss…
- What are age-appropriate discussions to have regarding personal safety?
- Bringing up big topics if you’re feeling awkward
- Moving beyond ‘stranger danger’
- Identifying the red flags of grooming
- The importance of asking our kids questions as conversation starters
- What to do if children disclose a safety concern with you
- “It might feel bad, it might feel good but it’s not right” - explaining physical responses to abuse
- How can we give our kids a safe childhood with these worries in mind?
- Sharing your child safety boundaries with other families
- Peer-on-peer sexual abuse - what it is and what steps to take
- What are developmentally expected sexual behaviors?
- Nappy changes to doctor visits, how do we explain what a safe scenario looks like?
- Knowing the power of these preventative and supportive conversations
Additional links:
- Bravehearts ‘Protecting Children and Young People from Sexual Abuse: A Guide for Parents & Carers’ - Free Download
- Child Safety online resources to teach body safety
This episode is brought to you by The Australian Government’s One Talk at a Time campaign, which is all about the little conversations that help keep our kids safe.
Beyond the Bump is hosted by Jayde Couldwell (@londonxboston) and Sophie Pearce (@svpearce)
Come say hey over on
Instagram @beyondthebump.podcast
TikTok @beyondthebumppodcast
Facebook - Beyond the Bump Community Chats group
Sign up to our monthly newsletter here for BTS, recommendations, outfits and more.
If you’d love to partner with the podcast, send us an episode idea or find out more, you can over here.
We couldn’t do this without you, Bumpies. If you’re liking what you’re hearing, we’d love it if you could send us to a mama mate or leave a 5 star review.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJayde Couldwell· Host0:00
We would like to acknowledge the Bundjalung people, traditional custodians of this land where we record this podcast, and we pay our respects to elders past and present. [upbeat music] Hello, beautiful bumpies.
Sophie Pearce· Host0:15
Welcome to Beyond the Bump, a podcast brought to you by J Goodwell and Sophie Peers.
Jayde Couldwell· Host0:21
This podcast is targeted at moms, moms-to-be, and women in general.
Sophie Pearce· Host0:25
And gents, feel free to have a listen, too.
Jayde Couldwell· Host0:28
It's a place to have real discussions and ask real questions, no matter how hard, with honest and authentic conversations that leave you feeling lighter, more supported, and more understood after every listen.
Sophie Pearce· Host0:39
We began as your go-to baby podcast, and we're still right there with you in the thick of it. But now, we're growing with you and your kids, too.
Jayde Couldwell· Host0:46
From newborn chaos to raising tweens and teens, from identity shifts to perimenopause, and everything in between. We're here to support the full ride of womanhood.
Sophie Pearce· Host0:55
And as always, we can't promise that it will always be kept PG, so please be mindful around little ears.
Jayde Couldwell· Host1:00
Here we go.
Sophie Pearce· Host1:02
Here we go.
Jayde Couldwell· Host1:03
Hello, Alison Geale, and welcome to Beyond the Bump podcast. Before we get started, can you please tell our beautiful bumpies a little bit about yourself and what you do, which is super-duper important.
Alison Geale· Guest1:13
Yes. I'm so excited to be spending some time with you here today. My name's Alison Geale, and I'm the CEO of BraveHearts. And BraveHearts is a national child protection organization solely dedicated to the prevention and treatment of child