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Help Us Make Waves!

5WAVES, launched in 2022, is the first 501(c)(3) nonprofit specifically dedicated to representing and serving those affected by sibling sexual trauma and abuse. We are committed to offering our online information and peer support services free of charge to individuals and families facing sibling sexual trauma or abuse. Here is what some have had to say:

"Thank you for existing."

"For so many years, I thought I was the only one this had ever happened to."

"The isolation and emptiness is absolutely debilitating."

"This group literally saved my life."

If PayPal asks you to confirm the address the donation is being sent to, please input info@5waves.org.
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If you would like to speak with a member of our team about making a donation by other means than PayPal, please email info@5waves.org.

5WAVES, Inc. is organized and operated as a public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the US Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible in the US; contact a tax professional for details. Contact info@5waves.org for IRS letter and proof of 501(c)(3) status.

The Difference You Can Make!

$25 hosts our websites for one month
$50 prints 500 cards, with QR code links to our websites and online support groups, for distribution at doctors offices, child advocacy centers and sexual assault crisis centers, & more
$125 sends one year's e-newsletters to 500 subscribers

$250 covers an annual nonprofit subscription to a service that helps us find grants that might be a good match for us to apply
$500 covers registration fees for one 5WAVES cofounder to attend a professional conference, to form collaborations and share the voices of lived experience with researchers, practitioners, students, and leaders in fields related to SST

$2000 would cover travel costs for one 5WAVES cofounder to attend a professional conference (see above)
$10,000 would help 5WAVES to sponsor its own conference, devoted to sibling sexual trauma and centered around lived experience
$20,000 would allow 5WAVES to hire its first part-time staff

To learn more about opportunities to support 5WAVES, please email info@5waves.org

5WAVES Future Goals

Awareness, Education, Prevention

Engage with the media to increase public awareness of the realities of sibling sexual trauma and abuse
Inform the public and reach out to survivors and families via social media
Reach parents, schools and communities with awareness, strategies for prevention and early detection, and guidance on how to respond.
Provide quality professional development and continuing education materials on responding to disclosures of sibling sexual trauma, no matter when or how that occurs.

"Sibling sexual trauma is thought to be one of the most common forms of sexual harm to children. It devastates families and individuals like little else. Yet it is the least understood, least reported, least talked about of any kind of sexual violation."

~Brandy Black, siblingsexualtrauma.com

"Five years ago, I Googled Sibling Sexual Abuse, and what popped up was three outdated articles from ten years ago. Even today the third search result is, ‘Is Sibling Sexual Abuse a thing?’ "

~Jane Epstein, TEDx Talk: Giving Voice to Sibling Sexual Abuse, January 2022

Support

Provide scholarships for young people to attend a professionally moderated online support group with peers who have experienced sibling sexual trauma
Sponsor opportunities for survivors to attend healing through writing workshops or healing retreats
Create a framework for a peer mentoring program, so that those who have faced sibling sexual trauma in themselves and/or their families can help guide and support others going through the process

Research

Seek funding for research for publication to answer basic questions such as:
- How common is sibling sexual trauma?
- What puts children at risk for sibling sexual abuse?
- What works to prevent it?
- What types of treatment are effective–at healing trauma, at preventing future abusive behavior, at restoring family functioning? Do they differ by gender, age, neurodivergence, and other factors?
- What factors should inform initial decisions after SST is discovered or suspected during childhood--such as sibling separation vs in-home safety planning, whether or not to enter the case into the criminal legal system, etc
Present at virtual and in-person conferences to share information with practitioners from all over the world.
Develop tools to guide professionals in responding effectively

"Although the increased interest over the last 10 years has developed our knowledge in this field, misconceptions prevail and the evidence-base to support practitioners and families affected by SSA remains thin."

-Yates, Mullins, Adams, Kewley 2024: Sibling Sexual Abuse; What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Know?