International Child Abuse Network

2nd Annual Art Show

to Commemorate

World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse

November 19, 2004

Welcome:

Introduce Yes ICAN

Introduce World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse

The 10 commitments

What can children do:

Sharyn:

Guest Introductions and Thank you’s:

Guests:

Councilman Dennis Zine

Patty Friedman – Supervisor Mike Antonovich

Lori Wheeler – Supervisor Zeb Yaroslovsky

Rosalyn Silva – Congressman Sherman

Art Show Assistance –

Councilman Dennis Zine – Lori Wheeler Supervisor Zeb Yaroslovsky’s office

Artist Presentations

Sharyn Yuloff / Cari Krasnow
Kielan Rathjen / Melissa Javidzad
Ben Gaudioz-Young
Joseph Simon
Francesca Denise Garcia
Gregory Hershler
Janna Rae Bodnar-Hwang
Yvonne Asea
Brandon Corenman
Skye Montgomery
Devon McMahon
Dani Roberts / Paige Nicola
John Turner
Kate Wilson
Ryder Hinton
Annie Gaudioz-Young
Parker Adelson
Melissa Amy Garcia
Rose Love
Jeremy Pacher

List in order:

Kielan Rathjen

Melissa Javidzad

Ben Gaudioz-Young

Paige Nicola

Joseph Simon

John Turner

Francesca Denise Garcia

Kate Wilson

Gregory Hershler

Ryder Hinton

Janna Rae Bodnar-Hwang

Annie Gaudioz-Young

Yvonne Asea

Parker Adelson

Brandon Corenman

Melissa Amy Garcia

Skye Montgomery

Rose Love

Devon McMahon

Jeremy Pacher

Dani Roberts

Sharyn Yuloff
Kielan Rathjen
Ben Gaudioz-Young
Joseph Simon
Francesca Denise Garcia
Gregory Hershler
Janna Rae Bodnar-Hwang
Yvonne Asea
Brandon Corenman
Skye Montgomery
Devon McMahon
Dani Roberts
Cari Krasnow
Melissa Javidzad
Paige Nicola
John Turner
Kate Wilson
Ryder Hinton
Annie Gaudioz-Young
Parker Adelson
Melissa Amy Garcia
Rose Love
Jeremy Pacher

Good evening and welcome to the International Child Abuse Network (YesICAN) 2nd annual Art Show. My name is Sue Meier and I’m the founder and Executive Director of this organization. Yes ICAN was founded in 1997 as a grass roots volunteer group of dedicated and concerned people who wanted to provide services to individuals who were being abused all over the world. To provide access to free, current and expert information about child abuse and a forum where those who have either been abused or are being abused now would be able to work on their healing in a way that would be both confidential and anonymous. In its first month, received 57 requests for assistance on its web site. In the last several months that number has swollen to more than 10,000 people per month. While the largest number of visitors to the Yes ICAN website comes from the United States, visitors have come from over 35 different countries on all of the continents. YesICAN is the only agency providing facilitated groups on the Internet.

The facilitated chat groups are staffed by trained volunteer facilitators who have completed the Yes ICAN 60 hour training program taught by a licensed therapist. Yes ICAN provides groups for survivors of child abuse and domestic violence. It also provides groups for parents, and those who are in relationship with an abuse survivor.

Yes ICAN has been honored to be invited to three United Nations three times, specifically the Special Session on Children. This December we have been invited to speak at the International Children’s Conference in Sonora, Mexico.

We are proud to announce that this past week we went live with our brand new and updated website. In addition to what we have already been providing we now have a page for domestic violence, a page that gives information about how to report child abuse and the telephone numbers for reporting child abuse throughout the United States. We are hoping to upgrade out chat room in the next few weeks to make it even more user friendly to those who want to access our groups.

Our mission is to work worldwide to break the cycle of child abuse. Our belief is that if we can provide the most current information about abuse and then support the process of change, we can radically reduce the amount of abuse to children. It isn’t going to be easy; we need all of your help, that’s why we called our organization a network. This work is like taking a wall of cement down with a spoon. But, if everyone here would pick up a spoon and join us, eventually the wall will come down.

World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse was organized by Women’s World Summit Foundation in2001 and sponsored by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the UN Special Reporter on the Sale of Children in Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and the . The International Child Abuse Network(Yes ICAN) has joined the coalition along with 452 organizations from 91 countries.

This day is to be commemorated every November 19th on the anniversary of the signing of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Day for the Rights of the Child (November 20), which has as its objective to be a rallying point around the issue of child abuse and the need for urgent effective prevention programs.

The main purpose of the Non Governmental Organization Coalition is to contribute to the creation of a culture of prevention of child abuse and form a global partnership network to raise awareness, mobilize public opinion and action, and disseminate prevention programs.

Yes ICAN believes that one way tobreak the cycle of abuse isto educate our community and to convince government officials of the impact that abuse of children has on society. Our vision for celebrating this World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse is by impressing on all civil society the need to play a more active role in the promotion of and respect for children’s rights.

The rights that I share with you tonight come from “Say Yes to Children” who took them from the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

1. Leave No Child Out
All forms of discrimination and exclusion against children must end.

2. Put Children First
It is the responsibility of everyone – governments, individuals, non-governmental organizations, religious groups, the private sector and children and adolescents themselves – to ensure that children's rights are respected.

3. Care for Every Child
Ensure all children the best possible start in life.

4. Fight HIV/AIDS
Protect children and adolescents and their families.

5. Stop Harming and Exploiting Children
Violence and abuse must be stopped now. And the sexual and economic exploitation of children must end.

6. Listen to Children
Respect the rights of children and young people to express themselves and to participate in making the decisions that affect them.

7. Educate Every Child
Every child – all girls and boys – must be allowed to learn.

8. Protect Children from War
No child should experience the horrors of armed conflict.

9. Protect the Earth for Children
Safeguard the environment at global, national and local levels.

10. Fight Poverty
Invest in Children Invest in services that benefit the poorest children and their families, such as basic health care and primary education. Make the well-being of children a priority objective of debt relief programs, development assistance and government spending.

Tonight we celebrate World Day with our 2nd annual art show with it’s theme: What can children do?

All art participants are honored tonight. Each piece is an honored reflection of an incredible life that crafted it. We thank you all for coming. Now, it is my honor to introduce our Board President Sharyn Yuloff.

Before we end I would like to have someone come up for a special Thank you.