As Father’s Day was this past Sunday, we at 1in6 would like to celebrate the fathers and father figures around the country who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse, especially those who embody the values of strength, character and courage in their daily lives.

STRENGTH

We celebrate fathers, step-dads and all father-figures who work hard, promote respect and harmony in their families and who demonstrate great love for their children.

We celebrate fathers who actively engage in raising children and who do their share of family chores, showing by example that it takes everybody’s hard work to make a home.

CHARACTER

We celebrate fathers who love and respect their partners and work honestly to maintain equality in their relationship.

We celebrate fathers who encourage their children to feel good about themselves and who promote understanding and respect between boys and girls.

We celebrate fathers who place their children’s need for love, safety and support first, whether they live with them each day or some days.

COURAGE

We celebrate fathers who make the difficult choices involved in balancing family and career, ensuring they make time for their children.

We celebrate fathers who challenge prejudice that demeans not just their sons and daughters but everyone else’s, too.

We celebrate fathers who advance the idea that peace and harmony in the home are preconditions for peace and harmony in the world.

Each of these principles, when put into practice on a continuous basis can help a male survivor of child sexual abuse on their journey of healing as they assume their roles of friend, partner, coworker and father or father-figure.

In order to assist all men in their role as fathers or father figures, the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse and President Obama’s Fatherhood & Mentoring Initiative launched "Fatherhood Buzz", an initiative to support barbershops in eight cities, which will connect dads with local resources to help build strong families. Check out the list to see if one of the barbershops in your community is participating in this initiative.  Then, encourage those barbershops to have the 1in6 Rack Card on hand for fathers and father figures who have experienced unwanted or abusive sexual experiences in their childhood.

I hope all fathers and father figures around the country had a happy Father’s Day and I encourage you to learn more about the support and resources available at www.fatherhood.gov/.

–By Emiliano C. Diaz de Leon

Emiliano C. Diaz de Leon is a Cultural Capacity Specialist for 1in6. Besides his work with 1in6, Emiliano has more than a decade of experience working for multiple domestic and sexual violence centers in Texas.  Since 2008, Emiliano has worked as a Primary Prevention Specialist for the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA) and since October 2011 providing technical assistance to the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Engaging Men Program grantees around the country as a Men’s Engagement Specialist. 

The mission of 1in6 is to help men who have had unwanted or abusive sexual experiences in childhood live healthier, happier lives.

1in6's mission also includes serving family members, friends, and partners by providing information and support resources on the web and in the community.

Joyful Heart and 1in6 invite you to visit 1in6.org for info, options and hope, and to learn more about our partnership and Engaging Men initiative at men.joyfulheartfoundation.org.

The views expressed above are not necessarily those of the Joyful Heart Foundation or 1in6.