This page compiles all material for the workshop, Mapping Child Sexual Abuse: A Workshop for Professionals Interested in Using Community Data for Awareness, Prevention, And Intervention Programs and Activities, at the 33^rd International Symposium on Child Abuse (Symposium), March 27-30, 2017, Huntsville, Alabama.

Abstract

Professionals are increasingly aware if the fact that child abuse is not just an individual or a family problem: it is also a characteristic of certain neighborhoods. While commonsense tells us that children are at greater risk in impoverished neighborhoods populated by marginalized residents and lacking in services, do we know enough about those areas to target our awareness, prevention, and intervention programs? New available computer applications make it easier than ever to identify neighborhoods where the risk of child abuse is highest, making it possible to prevent and intervene with it in timely and efficient ways. Using these computer tools does not require special skills or experience: you can become proficient with minimal training and at low cost. This workshop provides hands-on experience in using one mapping system for child advocacy. You will learn to geocode abuse incident events for mapping, create density hot spot maps showing high risk neighborhoods, use local community information relevant to child abuse, and create maps that link community and abuse incident information. You will also learn how to build a simple and sustainable system for mapping and analyzing your own incidence and community information. While not mandatory for the workshop, those who bring a laptop computer with WiFi and Internet capacity can actively engage in constructing maps.