SCARS stands for Saving Children and Revealing Secrets.
SCARS was granted its charitable status by the Registrar General of Bermuda on October 27, 2011 – Registration #922.
SCARS is Bermuda’s only child sexual abuse prevention charity organization. It was founded by Debi Ray-Rivers and was formed to create greater awareness of the devastation that child sexual abuse can cause in the life of a child, a family, and a community. Thanks to our corporate and community donors, SCARS offers prevention education and awareness initiatives for the residents of Bermuda and those that work with Bermuda’s children.
Child sexual abuse can have a catastrophic impact on a victim’s life. The real tragedy is that it robs children of their innocence and without proper support, it could lead victims to suffer a wide range of psychological, physical, and social problems in varying degrees.
As quoted by the Darkness to Light organization in the US, “Reported cases of Child Sexual Abuse represents the 2nd most expensive VICTIM crime behind murder – costing the US billions annually. If child sexual abuse left physical scars instead of emotional ones, people would be horrified.”
SCARS’ mission is to reduce the risk of child sexual abuse and be an advocate and a voice for children who have been sexually molested as well as their affected family. We are mission driven. We raise public awareness, provide prevention education and awareness initiatives, and advocate for policies and procedures to be put in place that best protect Bermuda’s children from the crime of child sexual abuse. SCARS provides resource information and media platforms to support victims and their affected families.
Our intent is to ensure that our message is presented to all adults including Parent-Teacher Associations, Youth Serving Organizations, Sports Programs, Faith-Based Groups, Camps, Clubs, and all other organizations that are entrusted with children in our community.
The focus of our organization is to stop sexual abuse before it happens and provide information on where to report sexual abuse. Prevention is the key; by the time the police, government support agencies, or therapists get involved, the molestation has already occurred, and a scar has formed.
If SCARS can reduce the number of sexually molested children in our community, we believe the result will be a reduction in drug abuse, alcoholism, teen pregnancies, mental illness, self-injurious behaviors, eating disorders, promiscuity, violence, and suicidal ideation.
The key to the success of SCARS is the passionate and committed board members, officers, hard-working staff, and our treasured volunteers.