Ending the Silence talks about child sexual assault

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) -Ending the Silence is a non-profit organization in Rapid City. Sunday, they held a conference with Native American elders to talk about native-on-native violence with an emphasis on child sexual assault.

The event was expected to have a turnout of around 300 Native American elders and bring people together to discuss these issues to see how they can come together as a community.

In addition to talking about difficult subjects, they also had some donations to give away, free entertainment, and food.

“Right now, in Rapid City four out of five of our native kids are sexually abused before they turn 12. We’ve had over half of our teens attempt suicide, or actually complete the act in the past year,” said Brandon Ferguson, Executive Director of Ending the Silence

Ferguson said the message he hopes for everyone to leave with is people can sit with their kids and let them know the importance of speaking out if something is wrong, and to not stay quiet.