Defending The Young

Innovative public awareness and engagement campaigns, education and advocacy are the ways END1IN4 creates positive change for victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse.

Kathy Andersen, award-winning author, consultant and creator of podcasts and blogs addressing the subject, founded END1IN4, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, in 2022 to help end the impact and magnitude of child sexual abuse.

“My earliest memory of my abuse growing up in Sydney, Australia was at age 3 by my adoptive father,” Andersen, 54, points out. “This continued until I was 17 and left high school. My (adoptive) mother never knew; I never told her (until I was 40 years old) because of fear and manipulation.

“I also ran away to friends’ houses as a teen, but their parents just dismissed the abuse. Many adults just didn’t know what to do, and now, 35 years later, still don’t.”

Andersen transitioned to the corporate world in Australia at age 30. She found success at the Ford Motor company but was “running and running” and “felt so empty inside.” Andersen then found purpose in the nonprofit world using her sailing skills in regattas to help disabled kids as part of Shake-A-Leg Miami.

With child sexual abuse so close to her heart (“It’s so prevalent and unseen”), Andersen ultimately started END1IN4.

When she learned from Child Protect, Children’s Advocacy Center, an organization based in Montgomery, Ala. that exists to minimize child sexual and physical trauma, that 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys experience child sexual abuse before age 18, Andersen’s thought process was, “Let’s Call It 1 In 4 And End It” or “END1IN4.”

“I want people to look closer, see the signs if they suspect that children in their family are experiencing abuse — and seek help, make the call,” Andersen says.

“Adults who were abused as children experience depression, addiction, obesity, heart disease and even cancer. And almost all will suffer from mental health issues like suicide and PTSD.”

Her efforts include raising awareness during April Child Abuse Prevention Month by featuring celebrity stories (Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres are among them) on almost 200 billboards and digital screens across Miami, Los Angeles and New York, and on social media. Andersen also broadcasts international podcasts heard in more than 120 countries (with guests including doctors, psychologists and survivors sharing their stories).

And her book, “Change Your Shoes, Live Your Greatest Life,” inspires readers to use their inner strength to leap onto paths that lead to their greatest lives.

For more information about END1IN4, Inc., visit END1IN4.org. For help (available 24 hours a day), call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline via 240-END-1IN4.