Rape and Assault: Holding All Perpetrators Accountable
We need more support for those who speak out about rape and assault, and we must believe in what the victims tell us. Regardless of their gender, income, background or anything else, we must demand that investigations take place and we must punish those who engage in this behavior.
The Catholic Church is a good example of a group that is beginning to take responsibility for the rape and assault of our children. Finally this criminal behavior is being made public and punished. On the whole, our society fails to support these victims and there is often the idea that the victim is at fault—especially if the victim is a woman. The perpetrator often forgets or denies his involvement.
What happened to Dr. Ford during the Kavanaugh hearings is an example of our government’s failure to punish the perpetrator, and worse, of blaming the victim. Our representatives did not believe Dr. Ford enough to identify the perpetrator and to punish that person.
Recently we have learned more about the rape and assault of young people, small children and even the oral rape of babies. The latter was in the news a while ago exposing an international ring of male criminals who were raping infants. The particulars of rape and assault of very young people include the victim’s self blame that often results in hiding the crime for many years, as did many victims of the Catholic church. The victim is afflicted with acute stress, and sometimes mental illness, while growing up and keeping the crime a secret. When the crime is revealed, public belief is in short supply—as we witnessed with Dr. Ford.
We must hold all perpetrators accountable for the crime of rape or assault.
Planned Parenthood (PPL) remains committed to the prevention of sexual assault. One wonders if that is why our legislators, who are mostly men, are working to prevent funding for this very important organization. RAINN, which is the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, offers a 24/7 hotline for victims to call for help after experiencing a rape or an assault. RAINN is interested in improving public policy and providing public education around these crimes.
#MeToo is also a very important resource for reporting personal experiences even if they occurred many years ago. Darkness to Light, which is focused on ending child sexual abuse, provides the following facts and educational videos:
- Experts estimate that 1 in 10 children are sexually abused before their 18th birthday, and about 35% of victims are 11 years old or younger.
- Approximately 30% of children are abused by family member, and as many as 60% are abused by people a family trusts.
- Nearly 40% of children are abused by older or larger children.
If you believe that we must support these victims and hold all perpetrators accountable, contact Congress today and let you voice be heard.
