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As Ohio lawmakers debate House Bill 172, a proposal that would require parental consent for children seeking temporary mental-health support. Violence prevention advocates warn that vulnerable children could be placed at grave risk. The bill seeks to repeal current law that allows teens aged 14 and older to access up to six weeks of counseling through the state’s crisis mental-health system without parental approval.

Supporters of the bill argue that parents must be involved in their children’s mental-health care. Critics counter that mandatory parental involvement could expose sexually abused teenagers to further danger, especially when the abuser is a parent, guardian, or caregiver.

This debate touches the heart of a larger societal battle: how to protect children from child sexual abuse while ensuring they have safe pathways to disclose, heal, and reclaim ownership of their bodies and their futures.

The High Cost of Silence: Why Private Access to Help Matters

Emily Gemar of the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence has spent years in emergency rooms with children as young as early adolescence, children who whisper their trauma in the middle of the night because there is finally a safe adult to talk to.

She reminds lawmakers of a harrowing truth: Between 35% and 93% of sexually abused children know their abuser and the abuser is often a parent or caregiver.

For these children, being required to ask their abuser for permission to seek help is not just unreasonable, it is dangerous. The child faces:

• Threats or retaliation
• Escalated physical or sexual violence
• Loss of trust in the system
• Further emotional manipulation

In such circumstances, privacy equals safety. The current Ohio program acknowledges this reality by giving adolescents emergency access to mental-health support through the 9-8-8 crisis line, without cost and without parental consent. House Bill 172 would repeal that protection.

Supporters of the Bill Argue for Parental Authority

Sponsoring legislator Rep. Johnathan Newman says parents should never be excluded from a child’s mental-health journey. Conservative activist John Stover likens the bill to previous legislation requiring parental notification for mental-health concerns in schools.

From their perspective:

• Parents are central to a child’s recovery
• Families deserve transparency
• Mental-health professionals still have mandatory reporting duties

Their argument assumes that parents are safe, supportive, and capable of intervening appropriately.

Advocates for Victims Warn of Harmful Consequences

For children who have experienced abuse, the consequences of forced parental notification are devastating:

1. Loss of Safe Disclosure

Abused children often take weeks or months to trust a counselor enough to reveal what happened. Removing confidential access eliminates the only safe space many victims have.

2. Increased Risk of Further Abuse

If a child must tell their abuser they are seeking help, they face predictable retaliation:
punishment, silence, threats, intensified abuse.

3. Closed Doors to Early Intervention

Most child sexual abuse is never reported. Mandatory parental involvement ensures even fewer cases will surface.

4. Failure to Protect the Most Vulnerable

Children abused by caregivers are already disproportionately harmed. This bill could strip their one lifeline.

This is why state organizations, including the Ohio Domestic Violence Network are preparing to testify against the bill.

Understanding the Abuser’s Toolkit: Why Children Cannot Rely Solely on Adults for Protection

The legislative debate highlights a painful reality: systems meant to protect children often rely on the same adults who may be harming them.

Mr. Taiwo Akinlami, renowned family attorney and child-safeguarding innovator, has documented this dynamic for more than 30 years. His model, outlines four predictable stages offenders use to gain access to children.

Using the real-world example you provided, the case of Sarah, we see each stage clearly:

Profiling

The abuser identifies vulnerability; emotional, social, familial.

Grooming

The abuser builds trust, normalizes boundary crossings, and creates emotional dependence.
Praise, mentorship, and family involvement became tools of control.

Attack

The violation occurs where the abuser ensures privacy, secrecy, and power dominance.

Manipulation

Threats, guilt, and emotional blackmail keep the child silent.
The abuser convinces the child that disclosure will harm everyone she loves.

Prevention Begins With Empowerment:

Abuse thrives in silence. Prevention thrives in knowledge. This is the foundation of Mr. Akinlami’s internationally recognized concept: Every Part of My Body Is Private to Me® (EPP2ME).

This principle teaches children:

• Autonomy: My body belongs to me.

• Boundaries: No one has the right to touch my private parts.

• Voice: I can say NO, even to adults.

• Safety: Secrets about my body should never be kept.

• Help-Seeking: I must tell a trusted adult until someone protects me.

Embedding EPP2ME in homes, schools, faith centers, and youth programs equips children with the language and confidence to understand violations and disclose them safely.

Balancing Parental Rights and Child Safety: A Path Forward

An analysis of Ohio’s bill must acknowledge two truths:

1. Parents matter.

They play a central role in a child’s healing and stability, when they are safe and loving.

2. Some parents could be the danger.

And systems must account for those children too.

For legislation to truly protect children, it must:

• Preserve confidential access to crisis support
• Provide clear exceptions when parental involvement endangers a child
• Strengthen mandatory-reporting protocols
• Expand child-friendly reporting channels
• Fund prevention education like EPP2ME
• Train counselors in trauma-informed care

The safest system is one designed for all children, not just children in healthy homes.

Conclusion

Ohio’s proposed parental-notification law raises essential questions about how society views child sexual abuse, parental authority, and a child’s right to safety. While adults debate legislation, children continue to suffer in silence, often in the very homes where they should be most protected. Empowering children through frameworks like Every Part of My Body Is Private to Me®, educating families, strengthening communities, and ensuring confidential pathways to help are not optional. They are essential. Protecting children requires more than policy, it requires courage to prioritize the child’s safety and a collective commitment to prevention, early intervention, and empowerment.

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