Making Minnesota a Safer Place

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OneTear Ministry is a community free of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, neglect, and domestic violence. We exist to end abuse and domestic violence and the affects it has on the victims through providing Outreach and Resources, Healing, Awareness and Prevention, and Social Change.

OneTear Ministry is Outreach based and provides Resources for individuals and families affected by abuse and domestic violence. Helps victims in their Healing so they can move beyond being defined by the crimes committed against them and become Survivors.

OneTear Ministry brings Awareness to, and promotes, safe and healthy relationships for the Prevention of abuse and domestic violence. We work with others to create Change in attitudes, behaviors, and policies that perpetuate the acceptance of, and impact our understanding and responses to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, neglect, and domestic violence.

For more information on how you can help change public policies visit invisiblechildren.org or any of the other web sites listed in the resource section.

If you don’t think sexual abuse is a problem, go to the Invisible Children website and read Child Sex Abuse & The Most Powerful Suicide Note Ever. The case in this letter may be the extreme end, but these thoughts and behaviors are a normal reaction to childhood sexual abuse.

Resources for Kids

• If you are in immediate danger call 911
• childhelp.org or call them at 1-800-422-4453 to speak to a counselor
• thehopeline.com or call them at 1-800-394-4673 Online they offer email, chat and a blog where you can post questions and see how other kids are handling their situations
• teenhopeline.com or call them at 1-800-394-4673 Online they offer a forum, or chat line (7pm – 11pm)

Definitions of Abuse

• PHYSICAL ABUSE - Physical acts by parents or caregivers that cause, or could have caused physical injury to the child. This includes but is not limited to severe beatings, burns, biting, strangulation, or scalding resulting in bruises, broken bones, scars, or internal injuries.
• NEGLECT - Failure of parents or other caregiver, for reasons not solely due to poverty, to provide the child with needed, age-appropriate care, including food, clothing, shelter, protection from harm, supervision appropriate to the child's development, hygiene, education, and medical care.
• SEXUAL ABUSE - When a person under the age of 18 is exploited for the sexual gratification of an older person. This includes but is not limited to fondling of the child’s private parts; oral, vaginal or anal penetration by the offender; exposure of sexual parts by the offender; pornography or prostitution.
• EMOTIONAL ABUSE - Parental or other caregiver acts or omissions, such as rejecting, terrorizing, berating, ignoring, or isolating a child, that cause or are likely to cause the child serious impairment of his or her physical, social, mental or emotional capacities.
• DOMESTIC VIOLENCE - Behaviors used by one person in a relationship to control another person. These behaviors include but are not limited to physical harm, put-downs or name-calling, isolation from others, intimidation, or sexual assault.

When children are exposed to domestic violence it causes them to live in fear. These children exhibit many of the same problems and behaviors caused by other types of abuse.