Reducing juvenile sexual offenses in Arizona
AzSAN—the Arizona Sexual Assault Network—is implementing a project funded by the Arizona Department of Health Services to publish an information piece about juvenile sexual offending in Arizona. Young people are being indicted and jailed for exploring sex in ways that may be age appropriate but that violate Arizona laws.
The purpose of the project is to reduce the amount of juvenile sexual offenses using an information booklet to give Arizona youth a heads up. The booklet will contain real-life stories from actual Arizona youth, presented in a graphic story format. “Only the names will be changed to protect the innocent.” These cases describe the kinds of behaviors that may cause harm and can land a young person in jail.
Elizabeth Houde, Executive Director of the Arizona Sexual Assault Network, is using Mirror Communication to bring this project to fruition.
You can help Arizona young people learn about the consequences of being uninformed and making risky decisions about how they explore their sexuality. If you're a young person who has run into the Arizona juvenile sexual offender laws, or a concerned parent or friend, you probably have a story to tell and some "human learnings" to share. Email me in confidence or telephone me to learn about the project. My contact information is on the Connections page. We'll get acquainted and discuss how you might help. All communication is strictly private and any information you share is held in strictest confidence. None of what you say will used without your explicit permission.
You can visit the AzSAN website at http://www.arizonasexualassaultnetwork.org/.
David Dunn 8/22/08