SYSTEMIC CHANGE
#ONE WORD
Recognizing Sibling Sexual Trauma & Abuse
-A National Collaboration for Systemic Change
One word is missing from almost every child protection policy, prevention curriculum, and professional training framework in the country. That word is Sibling. The #OneWord Initiative exists to put it back — by asking the organizations already doing child protection work to make one simple, powerful change.
SYSTEMIC CHANGE
Sibling sexual abuse is the most common form of intra-familial child sexual abuse. It is also the most absent from the systems designed to prevent it.
PERIOD
Research consistently shows that sibling sexual abuse accounts for up to half of all cases of interfamilial childhood sexual abuse. It is estimated to affect 1 in 20 children. Despite this, it is largely invisible in the policy, training, data, and prevention systems that exist to protect children.
This is not because the organizations working in child protection don’t care. It is because the word has simply never been added. Curricula that teach child sexual abuse prevention don’t say “sibling.” Policies that govern response to intra-familial abuse don’t say “sibling.” Data collection systems that track CSA don’t say “sibling.” And so the cases go unrecognized, unreported, and unaddressed.
“Because one missing word — Sibling — has allowed countless cases of abuse to remain unspoken, uncounted, and unaddressed. By adding that one word to the language of child protection, we can transform understanding, response, and prevention for generations to come.”
— Colleen Mullowney, Founder SSTA AWARE
The #OneWord Initiative does not ask organizations to build new systems, create new programs, or divert resources from their core mission. It asks them to do one thing — add the word Sibling to what they already do — and in doing so, become part of the first national framework that makes sibling sexual abuse visible across every system that serves children.
Mission
To embed SSTA into every framework that shapes child safety through education, data collection, professional training, and prevention policy — through strategic partnerships, shared learning, and systemic change.
Vision
To create a national shift in awareness, prevention, and response by ensuring that sibling sexual trauma and abuse is recognized, researched, and included within all child protection and prevention systems.
HOW IT WORKS
The simplest ask in child protection.
The biggest gap it fills.
The #OneWord Initiative uses a collective impact model — aligning existing infrastructures rather than creating parallel systems. By focusing on integration, not duplication, this initiative ensures that the recognition of SSTA becomes a built-in feature of child safety programs, not an optional add-on.
What we ask organizations to do
1
Add the word to your policies
Review your existing child protection and safeguarding policies. Where childhood sexual abuse is named — add “including sibling sexual trauma and abuse.” One sentence. One word. Infinite difference for families navigating SSTA who encounter your organization.
2
Add the word to your curricula
Whether you deliver Stewards of Children®, Darkness to Light trainings, Erin’s Law curricula, or your own professional education — include a specific reference to sibling sexual abuse. Name it. Professionals and parents cannot address what has never been named in the room.
3
Add the word to your data
Review your existing child protection and safeguarding policies. Where childhood sexual abuse is named — add “including sibling sexual trauma and abuse.” One sentence. One word. Infinite difference for families navigating SSTA who encounter your organization.
BOOK THIS TRAINING
Bring this initiative to your team, agency, or institution.
The #OneWord Initiative is designed for the organizations that already exist — the ones doing the work every day to protect children and support families. We are not asking you to do more. We are asking you to include one more word in what you already do.