How Serious Are We About Protecting Our Children?

Any time a politician wants to raise taxes or start some new program the simplest way to gain acceptance is to claim “it’s for the children.”  We all want to be on the side of the children.  At least we want to say we’re on the side of the children.  But what does that mean?  Are we nurturing and raising our children toward a healthy, responsible, happy adulthood?  We can gain some insight into this by looking at the issue of child sexual abuse.

There are 60 million adult survivors of child sexual abuse in the United States today. Some experts report that one in four women and one in six men were sexually abused before they turned 18.  That’s a staggering number.

While some sources report these figures as fact, in reality there is little agreement on the actual numbers of children who are sexually abused every year.  Some experts claim the problem is growing.  Others that it is decreasing.  Regardless, just about everyone agrees that the problem is very serious and involves significant numbers.

One reason there is so little agreement on the size and scope of the problem is that most victims of this kind of abuse never tell anyone about it.  They keep it a secret.   Sometimes they remain silent out of fear, sometimes because of shame or guilt, sometimes it’s because they believe they engaged in the activity willingly and enthusiastically.  Sometimes the victims don’t even know what happened to them.   (more...)

How Serious Are We About Protecting Our Children?