In the early part of Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month, the Citizens Against Domestic and Sexual Abuse will mark Sexual Assault Awareness Week, April 7-14, with an art exhibit Friday and Saturday at the Deer Lagoon Grange.

Hiding Behind the Mask is a show of paintings, drawings and even poetry honoring survivors of sexual violence. The masks and art work are done by children ages 4 to 14, both girls and boys, and by adults, said coordinator Julie Fontaine, a sexual assault advocate with CADA.

“Some of the pieces are the artwork of survivors of rape or incest. Many are disturbing and sad,” she said.

Fontaine has an interest in art and discovered early on that it allows her young clients to open up, become more comfortable with her.

“They know why they’re here. But they don’t want to come and talk to a counselor,” she said. That’s when she offers them paints, pastels, a pen from the desk, even a piece of charcoal.

“It’s a way for them to express themselves,” she said. “Children have trouble communicating. Their drawings and paintings speak for them.”

The masks in the exhibit are of bandage material, made by children and then by the children and the unoffending parent together.

“It was healing to have the mother put the bandages on the kids, touch the child who is a survivor,” Fontaine said.

According to Erika Sanders, CADA Advocacy Program director, one out of every four girls and one out of every seven boys will be sexually abused before the age of 16.

Fontaine is hopeful that the exhibit will do its work, making people aware of the effects of sexual violence and of the work to put an end to it.

CADA provides emergency shelter, advocacy, legal advocacy and a 24-hour crisis line to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, as well as community education and outreach. All its services are free and confidential.