Child Sexual Abuse

     Sexual terrorism does not begin and end with rape. The American Association of Pediatrics states that at least 1 out of 5 adult women and 1 out of 10 adult men  ‘report’ having been sexually abused in childhood.  In 85% to 90% of the ‘reported’ cases, the abuser in someone the child knows. Many other people put the incidence of child sexual abuse of girls as high as 1 out of 3 or 30%. The numbers could actually be higher for few people count the very subtle abuses that happen and are forgotten in many young peoples lives.

The Silent Child, she sits alone in her room and wipes away her tears. 
Hiding beneath the covers so no one else hears ~ 
She wraps them tight around her to shut out all her pain. 
Praying if there is a God to make her safe again. |
She snuggles deep into her bed holding the covers tight. 
Cuddling her little teddy bear she leaves on the light ~ 
She waits for the assurance that all has gone to bed. 
Then settles into slumber so she can dream instead. 
She wakes at the sound of footsteps walking down the hall 
Then he stops outside her room and opens up the door ~ 
She shivers with her childlike fear as she starts to cry. 
Knowing what he has come here for 
though she doesn't know why. 
He tells her she is special that she's his little girl 
As he pulls back the covers into her silent world ~ 
He says that it's their secret the special game they play 
For no one else would understand; they'd just take him away. |
She lay there in her silence with her clothes on the floor 
Trying not to think of it as the tears slowly fall ~ 
She hears the clock ticking as her mind drifts away 
Her teddy bear beside her where he also lay. 
She wonders why he comes to her in the middle of the night 
When he should be with mummy holding her so tight ~ 
She listens to him tell her that she will be to blame 
If anyone discovers their special secret game. 
She pulls up the covers as he rises from her bed 
Tweaking at her little nose and kissing her forehead ~ 
She watches as he dresses as he tells her once again 
This is their little secret; she mustn't say a thing. 
She watches as he leaves her room and closes the door 
And listens for his footsteps walking back down the hall ~ 
Then she cuddles up to teddy and cries her silent tears 
Beneath her soiled covers so no one else can hear. 
And as she lay in her silence with her tear-filled eyes 
Each time that he comes to her a part of her dies ~ 
So she curls up in her bed and hugs her teddy tight 
And prays that he will never come to her again at night.

                                                                                   Michelle

     People who have been severely abused and hurt describe the abuse as a defining feature of their lives. Even a ‘mild’ abuse can surface many years later and is seen and reported by victims to have formed difficult emotional patterns that are very difficult to change. Between long pauses and deep breaths one woman struggled to describe the depression that began in adolescence when her father started molesting her. "He used to say, 'You're a worthless piece of garbage; you'll never amount to anything,” she said. While children are resilient, the phrase "sexual abuse" does not fully convey the mix of fear and betrayal an abused girl (or boy) may feel, especially because the abuser is typically someone she knows and should be able to trust -- a cousin, an uncle, stepfather, or even a girls own father. "There's nothing I can think of that so betrays the experience of safety and care and relationship," said Peter Fraenkel, a clinical psychologist who teaches at City College in New York: "‘the very person who was supposed to protect me, betrayed me.'" Or when parents do not believe their children or when a mother does not protect a child from a father or stepfather, this abandonment and betrayal does deep terrible ruin. 

    The ability to trust is shattered when a young child is betrayed sexually, physically, or emotionally by someone close to him, or by someone whose responsibility it is to care for him. “Incest is not "sexual dysfunction"—it is violent abuse of power, arising from a complex series of motivations,” says Andrew Vachss, and expert in the field. He goes on to say that Incest, as conceptualized by the legislature in New York, implies a bizarre form of "consent" by the victim. “The incest statutes do not mention "force," which would compel a harsher judgment of the perpetrator. Yet a child's ability to resist sexual intrusion by an all-powerful family member is virtually non-existent. Unless and until juries are permitted to understand that incest is nothing less than rape-by-extortion, it will be perceived as a "mental health" issue. And its victims, especially teenagers, will be perceived as complicitous.” 

    Nobody has the right to abuse children. Not even parents have that right yet obviously millions of people would argue even with this, though maybe not in pubic. The abusive father feels it is his right or he would not do it. And the mother who cowers in fear also believes in the rights of the patriarchal chauvinism so inherent in Bible teachings. When it comes to sexuality no one, absolutely no one had the right to abuse. And thus there should be no problem with educating children from a very early age about these subjects, about their bodies and their protection; and with communication skills and open doors that will allow them to reach out for any help when needed. Yet people are interested in protecting other things more than the children. They are more interested in protecting their cherished beliefs no matter how ignorant they are. And they are interested in protecting themselves.  

The Terror of Denying Complete Sexual Education

     We have a situation where the federal government of that country is actively keeping vital information about sexuality from children and this denial is leading to the first world’s highest rates of teenage pregnancy, abortion, sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS. Countries like the Netherlands have shown that open sexual education is sane and helps the young find their way more effectively through young peoples difficulties with their sexualities. When sexual intelligence is increased, through public sexual education, the results are dramatic in terms of reduced incidences of teenage pregnancy and lower rates of STDs. Complete sexual education is thus empathetic, compassionate and moral. Withholding information, for whatever reason or rationalization, is wrong, cruel, mean hearted and is responsible, in part, for a great deal of ´unnecessary ´ suffering of millions of young people. Indeed, all forms of birth control have become entangled with the explosive politics of abortion, which is a fundamental issue for the Christian right. In this alone we see a hidden but massive form of terrorism creating more suffering than we can possibly imagine. The Roman Catholic church continues its historic ways creating affliction while it sells its images of suffering and crucifixion. The most fanatical and fundamental people actually believe that "contraceptives are stepping stones for abortion" and that the "use of contraceptives often leads to divorce." In the age of AIDS what kind of cruelty and terrorism do we have when the church actively advocates against the use of contraceptives?  

     U.S. federally funded sexual education programs adhere to eight strict criteria “prohibiting” any mention of contraception except failure rates. The abstinence programs are required to discuss contraception only in terms of its flaws. Is this not a form of terrorism against our own children? What kind of situation do we really have when we have seemingly ‘well-meaning’ adults trying to protect children and teen-agers from sexual activity by keeping vital knowledge from them?  Since 1996, Congress has committed over half a billion dollars to abstinence-only education programs and zero dollars to comprehensive sexuality education.

    There are more ways to terrorize a person than setting of a bomb next to them and there are more ways to kill people than with knives and guns. If we want to count the number of fetuses aborted, and the number of young in the States that are contracting AIDS, and will die from that, we have more beings being killed through unnecessary ignorance, as the weapon of choice, then we do with bombs. In America it is estimated that about half of all 17-year olds have had sexual intercourse, resulting in 750,000 teenagers becoming pregnant each year and almost 4 million acquiring a STD (Sexually transmitted disease). According to the NCPTP, the number is even higher with more than one million American teenagers pregnant each year, leaving the US way out in front of all other industrialized nations with this costly and painful problem. With one in four sexually active teens set to get an STD this year and over 50% of new HIV infections occurring among those under 25, there is little question that sexual health issues hit young people hard.

     Recently Tommy G. Thompson, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, speaking for President Bush said, "Abstinence is the only sure way of avoiding sexually transmitted disease, premature pregnancy and the social and personal difficulties attendant to non marital sexual activity." Though abstinence itself is a sure guarantee for any individual against many problems its promotion as policy is motivated through the religious right which teaches that, ‘Sexual activity outside of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects.’ Yet it is common knowledge that increased levels of more complete sexual information save lives and alleviates mistakes and thus human misery among the young. It is well known that when sexual intelligence is increased in the young the results are dramatic in terms of reduced incidences of teenage pregnancy and lower rates of STDs and AIDS infection.

     Amy Cohen, president of Population Action International said, speaking out for the majority, "We have over 87 percent of Americans who believe there should be comprehensive sex education in schools and we have a Congress that does not support this in their legislation.” Any progressive and reasonably minded person can see that our young people need all the information they can get so they can learn what is most important to learn about life and their own sexuality. In reality our kids should be more worried about their own government and religious institutions which prefer to line them up with their souls against the walls. The bible has always stood for ignorance and blind belief and the results from this have never been pretty.

Sexual Violence

     Many husbands terrorize their wives and children and they do not need bombs to do it. Much of the insanity of the United States is revealed in the fact that for women and children, the family is the most dangerous place to live. (Time Magazine) The chance of serious assault and sexual violence are much higher in the home than on the streets but no one thinks of declaring war on such personal terrorism. Why should we be so concerned with foreign terrorism when we have millions of terrorists living among our midst’s?

I am for a war on terrorism
 if that war is against all terrorism.

     Terrorism is a word that indicates a special kind of violence. Yet all violence is terrible to behold and terrible to experience. Increases in terrorism are mirroring an increase in the general level of world violence. From the bedroom to boardrooms that terrorize stockholders through massive destruction of trust and outright theft of billions, from rape and the deliberate propagation of ignorance, to cultures and societies in conflict, many people are feeling increased anxiety and the terrorization of their peace and harmony.

     It should not be too difficult to concede that child sexual abuse and rape are ugly insane human activities. We have not even conceived though how to stop such things. Terrorism is a problem in the world, a much bigger problem than anyone really seems ready to realize. Any successful war on terrorism will have to cut deeply into the consciousness and ignorance of humanity. And any war on terrorism that does not pay attention to sexual terrorism, or all forms of terrorism simultaneously is a scam that at best can only divert our attention from the real problems facing humanity.

     This is the basic point of this book and provides the beginning of a hoped for turnaround in human affairs. Many people around the world have long known the suffering of terrorism, have been hurt and abused and have had their environments around them degraded to the point of death. The river of suffering did not begin on September the 11^th and as such the current American obsession with the war against terrorism is a deception. Instead of working to remove terrorism as a problem they are using the war to hide not only all the past and current terrorisms that they prefer remain hidden, but are perpetrating a massive attack on freedom and democracy while they plan for war that will terrorize millions if it eventually escalates to the level of another world war.