The debut release Use Your W.I.T.S! by NHS Mental health Professional Norgenta Lata educates children on body safety, autonomy and ownership. The debut new book teaches and empowers children to identify moments where they feel safe and moments where they don’t.
Research suggests around 1 in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused. It can happen to any child at any given time, however, the age range where child sexual abuse is most likely to occur has been identified as between 7–12 years of age.
Estimates indicate that one in ten children experienced child sexual abuse before the age of 16 and the 2022 Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse estimates that this occurs to one in six girls and one in twenty boys. [Source – The Independant Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse]
Use Your W.I.T.S! was created with the purpose of raising awareness, for both adults and children. This book aims to empower and educate children to recognize and report abuse; encouraging them to take ownership of their bodies, to understand the difference between safe and unsafe touch and to identify uncomfortable feelings in instances where they simply do not wish to be touched.
The book was released in March this year was written by Norgenta Lata, an NHS Mental Health Professional with a background of working in Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services. She currently works in adult mental health and has a master’s degree in Psychological Sciences. She is a passionate advocate for trauma-informed responses to sexual and domestic abuse and is a member of the Awareness and Response to
About the Book
Join Norah and Joni as they educate children on body safety by demonstrating what it means to Use Your W.I.T.S!
Norah learns how to take ownership of her body, identifying moments where she feels safe. Using an easy-to-learn strategy, she shows how she can set boundaries and respond to instances where she feels unsafe and in instances where she simply does not want to be touched.
Use Your W.I.T.S! also includes additional resources and discussion points, encouraging adults to ask children questions and to explore the key issues in the book of body safety, boundaries, and consent.
For those interested in purchasing a copy, the book is available in Amazon, Austinmacauley.com and any popular online book shop.
- Lisa