Homework has never been my favorite thing. And this week is no different. This week's risk assessment I'll be talking about sexual abuse. Yikes. Prepare yourselves. In Mansfield, Nottinghamshire (that's in the UK) Partick Gallagher is being charged with eighty-nine accounts of sexually abusing children. He's sixty. He got away with abusing seventeen children from ages of eight-seventeen between 1999-2010 (Source.) How does this happen? And why? And that's just one example. Are you beginning to understand just how sick this is? Without being graphic, we should start off by defining what sexual abuse is. With issues like this,it is crucial that everyone is on the same page. The first step to stopping an injustice is to know about it. The AHA says, "In most states, the legal definition of child molestation is an act of a person—adult or child—who forces, coerces or threatens a child to have any form of sexual contact or to engage in any type of sexual activity at the perpetrator’s direction." So just how frequent is this problem? Sexual abuse is reported about 80,000 times a year in the US (Source). But how often does this kind of abuse go unreported? Let's be honest for a moment. We don't see this kind of thing coming. We don't expect it. But maybe we should. We need to stop being passive or indifferent and start being aware. Most children are abused on multiple occasions. "Abuse typically occurs within a long-term, on-going relationship between the offender and victim, escalates over time and lasts an average of four years. Offenders often develop a relationship with a targeted victim for months before beginning the abused. Sexual abuse often occurs in successive generations of the same family (Source)." You think that we'd pick up on this by now, right? But how often do we get wrapped up in our own worlds and don't pay attention to our neighbours or what's going on in our communities. But what do we look for? Indicators in children age two-nine (yes that's right, this happens to children even this young):
- Fear of particular people, places or activities
- Regression to earlier behaviors such as bed wetting or stranger anxiety
- Victimization of others
- Excessive masturbation
- Feelings of shame or guilt
- Nightmares or sleep disturbances
- Withdrawal from family or friends
- Fear of attack recurring
- Eating disturbances
- Depression
- Nightmares or sleep disturbances
- Poor school performance
- Promiscuity
- Substance abuse
- Aggression
- Running away from home
- Fear of attack recurring
- Eating disturbances
- Early pregnancy or marriage
- Suicidal gestures
- Anger about being forced into situation beyond one’s control
- Pseudo-mature behaviours
Pretty big list, eh? Now you just need to keep your eyes open. I'm not trying to inspire paranoia, but we need to know what's up. So what can we do? First and foremost, if you have ANY suspicions, REPORT THEM! In twenty of our fifty states, you LEGALLY HAVE to report any suspicions you might have. Obviously make sure you keep an eye on your kids. Sit down and talk to them. Teach them to be smart and how to differentiate what is normal and what is inappropriate. Be active in your community. Spread the word. Be supportive of those who have been abused. Ask God for His heart for sexually abused children. Afterall, "The effects of sexual abuse extend far beyond childhood. Sexual abuse robs children of their childhood and creates a loss of trust, feelings of guilt and self-abusive behaviour. It can lead to antisocial behavior, depression, identity confusion, loss of selfesteem and other serious emotional problems. It can also lead to difficulty with intimate relationships later in life. The sexual victimization of children is ethically and morally wrong (Source)." And remeber that Matthew18:5 says, "And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." It is our responisibility as Christians to always have the best interest of the child in mind. Rememeber WWJD? What would Jesus do? He would have us looking out for the sexually abused child. The church needs to be looking out for not only for the members of their congregation but also for the children in their community. What about the governement? Well, Article 34 of the UN Convention on the rights of the Child says that the goverment should protect children from sexual abuse. Duh. We all should be. Right? So far the greatest resource I've found has been the internet. This topic has been so heartbreaking that I've never had any desire to research it. Just being honest. I've never read a book on this so I have none to reccomend. However I would reccomend LIVERSTRONG.com (yes like Lance Armstrong.) They have pages and pages of information on a number of issues. You can check out livestrong.com/sexual-abuse/ for a ton of articles on this subject. I will also post an episode of the Oprah about sexual abuse. In this episode, the guest is Tyler Perry and the audience is 200 men that as young boys were sexually abused. It is very interesting and horrifically sad. A few men give accounts of how those molestations have devistated and forever changed their lives. However, I would just like to encourage and remind you how big our God is. He can heal any wound no matter how deep. There is hope. Don't go forgetting that. Psalm 30:2, "Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me."
No comments:
Post a Comment