The Gingerbread House recently celebrated its 25th birthday with an open house event.
The team at the Gingerbread House Child Advocacy Center dedicates its efforts to reducing the trauma experienced by child victims of sexual and severe physical abuse, including child sex trafficking. Children and youth ages 2-16 receive professional forensic interviews conducted in a child-friendly manner at a non-threatening facility. By promoting a caring environment, children feel more at ease to disclose the horrific details of their abuse.
The interviews are recorded to reduce the number of times a child has to tell his or her story.
Imagine having to talk to strangers about perhaps the most difficult event you have ever had to experience. Now imagine having to do that 8-10 times. Stop for just a moment and think of how difficult that would be as an adult and how much more difficult that would be if you were a young child.
Prior to 1998, that was the reality of a child abuse victim in northwest Louisiana.
Children often “talked to” 8-11 different adults before any actions were taken. As a result, less than 5 percent of cases were successfully prosecuted. Since the inception of the Gingerbread House in 1998, the team has been able to reduce the number of interviews in most cases to just one. Prosecution rates have increased (over 97% successful prosecution of cases accepted by the District Attorney’s office) and the trauma experienced by victims has decreased, a win-win for all.
Children feel safe and welcomed at the Center. The Center’s Child Life Program helps lower stress levels in children as they are going through the forensic interview process. These efforts in the prevention and risk-reduction arena are geared toward reaching children before they become victims, as well as educating adults on strategies to recognize and prevent child sexual abuse.
The Center is an Accredited Member of the National Children’s Alliance, the highest recognition possible for a child advocacy center in the United States, and a member of the Louisiana Alliance of Children’s Advocacy Centers, the state’s organization. It also partners with local and state initiatives to help promote its message in order to keep children safe from abuse.