The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

economist suntribune health saturday oct 12 2002 17 betrayal lasts lifetime for victims from page 1 sexually abused their daughter beginning when she was a toddler eventually he was convicted of sexual assault and sexual interference but beth and her children were left with the emotional scars of their abuse they turned to the york region abuse program known as yrap for counselling beth considers her family fortunate because they were able to get the therapy they needed almost immediately however there are now more man 40 children waiting for treatment more than a quarter of those children are under the age of seven beth went through several yrap thera py courses her daughter attended a few counselling sessions but chose not to con tinue because she didnt want to dwell on the abuse in her past however beth saw the positive effect yrap had on her daughter when a school mate disclosed that she was being sexual ly abused the daughter grabbed the girls hand and marched her down to the vice- principals office so her friend could get the help she needed thats what yrap did for my daugh ter she went from being a victim to being an advocate for her friend beth said im glad yrap was there for us if it hadnt been it would have meant your feelings arent validated and you feel like youre still in the abuse or worse yrar founded in 1987 provides a num ber of programs for victims of childhood sexual abuse including sessions for victims their families and offenders it also offers education and support a court support group and an abuse prevention program on oct 25 yrap is holding a fundrais- ing gala called an evening of hope with the aim of raising 50000 to support its pro grams the formal masquerade party which will be held at le pare in thornhill will feature a dinner and open bar enter tainment by the legends of rock and roll dancing exotic face painting and eye masks and live and silent auctions the cost of the gala is 125 per person according to heather robinson a clin ical coordinator and social worker with yrar the agency needs three fulltime staff members to eliminate the waiting list if we had three fulltime sexual assault therapists we could meet the need victims of sexual abuse are now waiting more than a year for treatment once they have worked up the courage to disclose abuse and approach yrap for therapy jan austin yraps clinical director said research shows one in four girls and one in five boys will be sexually assaulted before their 18th birthday its the hidden epidemic in our culture ms austin stressed that there is a per ception that violent sexual abuse against very young children is the most traumatic to the victim but each victim and their families react differently to abuse often it is the parents who feel they have failed to protect their child sexual abuse can sometimes wound a teenager more than a young child according to clinical coordinator and social worker allison mckelvey if violence is part of the abuse it is sometimes easier for the victim to recognize that the crime being committed against them is unac ceptable than it is for the child who is manipulated by an offender appearing to be loving over 90 per cent of childhood sexual abuse its by someone familiar to the child in the vast majority of cases its intrafamilial so this is about betrayal ms austin said there is a huge disruption to the fam ily when the abuse is disclosed the fam ily is thrown into chaos its often harder on the parents than the children ms robinson agreed when people talk about childhood sexual assault they think its only about the child in many cases the children are more resilient than the adults thats why yrap needs to be there for everyone affected she said for more information about yrap call 1-905-853- 1023 to book your reservations for the gala call 905- 7735706 or email a yrapistarca sex abuse myths and facts when a child or youth is sexually abused victims and their families can get conflicting information from family members friends and professionals the york region abuse program has published a brochure of myths and facts about childhood sexual abuse myths include children make up stories or lie about sex ual abuse while children do make up sto ries they seldom lie about sexual abuse children who havent been abused usually dont have explicit knowledge of intimate sexual behaviour statistics indicate most reports of child sexual abuse are true abuse is most often committed by strangers actually most abuse is commit ted by someone the victim knows and trusts offenders look sleazy cruel or unusual in fact offenders come from every walk of life and have no distinct look perpetrators can be fathers mothers grandfathers grandmothers uncles aunts brothers sis ters babysitters coaches teachers doc tors social workers- religious leaders or neighbours acts like fondling or french kissing arent really sexual abuse and dont harm the young victim in reality any form of direct or indirect sexual contact with a child or youth by an adult or older child is abusive every victim will react differently to the abuse facts include a victim assaulted by a person of the same sex will not be turned into a homo sexual by the assault the sex of the perpe trator doesnt determine the victims sexual orientation children dont become victims of sexual abuse because they have bad or neglectful parents offenders use a range of tactics to gain access to their victims perpetrators are often experts in manipulating children offenders alone are responsible for their actions not their victims moreover perpe trators are responsible for their behaviour whether they are taking drugs or consuming alcohol there is no research available that sup ports the notion victims of childhood sexual abuse grow up to be pedophiles help keep your kids healthy for your free heartsmart family fun pak r f j call 1 888 hsf info q heart and stroke foundation of ontario this message brought to you as a community service of the economist suntribune the regional municipality of york notice of public meeting proposed official plan amendment 37 a public meeting will be held in accordance with section 1715 of the planning act as amended may 22 1996 to inform the public and receive comments on proposed amendment 37 to the official plan for the regional municipality of york file no d6sio2 wednesday november 6 2002 130 pm committee room a york region administrative centre 17250 yonge st newmarket ontario purpose and effect of this amendment the amendment deals with four subsections of the natural environment section of the regional official plan map 2 significant natural features and map 3 forest resources the specific sections and map changes are as follows wetlands update the wetlands mapping shown on map 2 to include evaluated wetlands identified by the ministry of natural resources since the original rop mapping was undertaken in 1994 some of these wetlands are new areas not presently shown on map 2 others are already shown on map 2 and their location is being more accurately depicted rename the section from wetland areas to wetlands establish a minimum 30 metre vegetated protection zone around individual wetlands shown on map 2 add site alteration as a defined term within the plan and as an activity that is prohibited within wetlands and the minimum vegetated protection zone environmental policy areas epa minor changes are proposed to the epa delineations on map 2 to account for updated information from both the ministry of natural resources and the toronto and region conservation authority forest cover changes are proposed to map 3 forest resources to include forest patches that meet or exceed the minimum forest size of 5 acre identified in the regional tree bylaw and more accurately depict forest patch locations amend the minimum size of forest patch included in the definitions section of the regional official plan to 5 acre amend the references in the definitions and policy from regionally significant forest to forested lands the rouge north management plan clarify existing policy 2117 of the regional plan to assist municipalities that are contemplating amendments to their official plans for the rouge north management plan for additional information a copy of the proposed amendment as well as background information will be available for inspection at the york region planning and development services department see address and telephone numbers at the end of this notice from 830 am to 430 pm on regular business days a copy of the amendment as well as all maps and background information is available for viewing or printing from the region of york website wwwregionyorkonca approval process following the public meeting the council of the regional municipality of york may if it chooses adopt the proposed amendment and give notice of the decision to adopt the amendment pursuant to ontario regulation 52597 made under the planning act amendments to the official plan for the regional municipality of york commenced on or after january 19 1998 are exempt from the approval of the minister of municipal affairs and housing once notice of decision is given if you have any objections to this amendment you may file with the clerk of the regional municipality of york within the time specified in the notice of decision a notice of appeal to the ontario municipal board note 1 if a person or public body that files a notice of appeal of a decision of the regional municipality of york in respect of the proposed official plan amendment does not make oral submissions at a public meeting or does not make written submissions to the regional municipality of york before the proposed official plan amendment is adopted the ontario municipal board may dismiss all or part of the appeal 2 if you wish to be notified of the adoption of the proposed official plan amendment you must make a written request to the clerk of the regional municipality of york in care of the address of the york region administrative centre at the end of this notice any person may attend the public meeting andor make oral or written submissions either in support of or in opposition to the proposed planamendment if you have questions in regard to this notice you may contact barbara jeffrey in the regional planning and development services department at the telephone numbers below written submissions regarding this proposed amendment referring to file no d0510257 as noted above should be made to commissioner of planning and development services york region administrative centre box 147 17250 yonge street newmarket ontario l3y 6z1 telephone 90s 8951231 18774649675 facsimile 905 8953482 email amendmentsregionyorkonca date of this notice october 11 2002 yorlcregion 9i s j