Gloria Masters and Scott Beard’s mission to save kids from sexual abuse with the Global Hand Sign for Under 16s campaign
Gloria Masters and Scott Beard’s mission to save kids from sexual abuse with the Global Hand Sign for Under 16s campaign
What Gloria Masters and Scott Beard both know through their work across child sexual abuse is that listening to children is about much more than words.
Masters, CEO of Handing the Shame Back and a child sexual abuse survivor / advocate, and Beard, a detective inspector with the New Zealand Police who has worked across sexual abuse for most of his 45-year policing career, launched a campaign this month to raise awareness about the Global Hand Sign for Under 16s.
“The Global Hand Sign for Under 16s gives children a non-verbal way to alert a safe adult like a parent, teacher, police officer or medical professional and it can help to identify and prevent child sexual abuse early,” Masters says.
“Talking to express a problem is an adult concept whereas the Global Hand Sign for Under 16s meets children where they are at.”
Masters started the charity Handing the Shame Back in 2022 and Beard has recently become an ambassador for the Global Hand Sign for Under 16s.
“Children often won’t tell someone if they are experiencing abuse because they’ve been told not to tell anyone and they are scared, the Global Hand Sign for Under 16s gives children another way to have a voice,” Beard says.
Masters agrees and says if a child does speak up about sexual abuse, the courage it takes is enormous.
“If a child does speak up, believe them the first time. The only reason they do so is in the hope the abuse will stop,” she says.
Masters, who is also an author, former teacher and child therapist, runs a podcast for survivors of child sexual abuse on Handing the Shame Back’s YouTube channel, which is accessed in 95 countries.
“For children it’s a change in behaviour or actions that most often indicate abuse is happening to them, it could be withdrawing socially, acting out extremely, reverting to behaviours like bedwetting and/or showing sexualised behaviour.”
Research shows an estimated near 30 percent of New Zealand girls aged 12 to 18 and one in five boys experience sexual violence.
The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry along with recent high-profile cases of child sexual abuse in prominent schools and churches show child sexual abuse is widespread in society.
“Child sexual abuse is a difficult subject for most New Zealanders to talk about, let alone understand the widespread impact on the child who is abused, as well as society as a whole,” Masters says.
In April, Handing the Shame Back sent, free of charge, a copy of Keeping Kids Safe: A Guide for Parents, Teachers and Others to every school in New Zealand, over 2,500 schools. The book is Masters’ third and aims to equip teachers, parents and caregivers on preventing, recognising and responding in a timely and appropriate fashion to abuse.
“Many New Zealanders are still not aware of the prevalence of child sexual abuse in this country. Handing the Shame Back works to normalise the conversation about this, and I believe by doing so we can help to prevent, identify and respond to child sexual abuse and support survivors of it.”
In 2023, Masters launched a Handing the Shame Back global awareness day marked annually on 16 June to show support for survivors of child sexual abuse.