February 22, 2019

We’re just weeks away from a crucial mayoral election but finger-pointing about which candidate is closest to Ed Burke, Danny Solis, or Rahm Emanuel is distracting attention from a critical safety issue impacting kids: How will Chicago’s next mayor deal with sexual violence against youth in our community?

Last summer, in its riveting series “Betrayed”, the Chicago Tribune exposed Chicago Public School’s deliberate indifference to hundreds of students who endured sexual harm. In unflinching detail, the reporting revealed overlapping systemic failures: front-line teachers who failed to inform DCFS when a student disclosed sexual abuse, teachers and coaches who perpetrated abuse, and inadequate safety and investigative measures after harm was discovered.

Sexual abuse is a widespread problem across our country, and our city can’t afford a leader who ignores what happens to kids on their turf. Research indicates that one in 10 children will experience sexual violence before turning 18, and studies find that 68 percent of surveyed girls and 55 percent of boys endure at least one episode of sexual harassment in high school alone. It is imperative that Chicago’s next mayor take their obligation to deal with this issue seriously. They must come into office prepared to equip schools and other organizations serving youth in our community with knowledge and skills that can effectively prevent, quickly uncover, and appropriately respond to all forms of sexual harm.

As a collective of organizations working to improve Chicago’s response to and prevention of sexual harm against youth, we are deeply concerned that none of the mayoral candidates has prioritized talking about their plans for ensuring that CPS—along with private and charter schools in Chicago—continues the hard work of reforming bad practices, implementing quality prevention and investigative programs, and redressing wrongs already perpetrated. Nor has any candidate outlined a comprehensive city-wide strategy to address what can only be classified as a public health crisis. Sexual violation results in long-lasting and wide-reaching emotional and psychological harm. Its impact rivals that of gun violence. Yet, sexual harm receives far less attention from our leaders. Approximately 2,500 cases of sexual harm against children are actually reported each year to authorities in Chicago (compared to the almost 2,400 shooting incidents involving victims of any age in 2018), and it is undisputed that many (if not most) instances of child sexual abuse are never brought to light.

The federal government has duties to ensure that educational institutions properly respond to sexual harassment and assault, but with President Trump and Secretary Betsy DeVos overhauling that system and cutting protections, Chicago parents and students need to look closer to home. What will the next mayor do? We don’t know. Less than a third of the 14 candidate’s websites acknowledge the problem of sexual violence against students, and even fewer have policy platforms that address the issues raised in the Tribune series.

Mayoral candidates must put forth plans for dealing with the sexual violation of students, and they must continue to address the crisis at CPS, going beyond the progress that has already been made to resolve the issues that have been exposed. Their plans need to be comprehensive and prioritize multi-session curricula for adults working with youth and age-appropriate prevention education for students. Children deserve access to education that recognizes and protects their dignity and to systems capable of preventing, identifying, and responding effectively to all forms of sexual harm. In addition, students whose education teaches them how to see, prevent, and remedy sexual harassment will be better equipped as adults to prevent and address sexual violation in the workplace and everywhere else it occurs.

The mayor has power over CPD, CPS, the park district, the library system, while funding and influencing a myriad of other social services for children. With this power, Chicago’s Mayor could ensure that preventing and addressing sexual abuse is a priority for all of these organizations. For now, it is on us, as a community, to demand that any new administration commit significant political capital and institutional effort towards addressing sexual violation against our youth. We can collectively insist that any new administration become a national leader in making the prevention of sexual harm against children a priority, one that is woven into the fabric of the City’s implementation of ALL services to children. The first step is asking every Mayoral candidate: What will YOU do?

This piece was authored by the Executive Directors of the anti-sexual violence organizations which founded the Chicago Prevention Alliance (CPA). The mission of CPA is to create, promote and facilitate the implementation and institutionalization of a diverse array of educational tools and practices that prevent acts of sexual harm against, or by, youth.

Kaethe Morris Hoffer of Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation

Char Rivette of Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center

Erin Walton of Resilience (formerly Rape Victim Advocates)