Crimes Against Young Women/Children

As is the case with all my weblog essays or postings, this is not a fully developed treatise, but within the limitations of my time and my readers’ interest and patience I believe you will quickly know where I stand in regard to this issue. 

I deplore the crimes we hear and read about against young women and children—the abuse, the abduction, the molestation and sexual exploitation, and I condemn the people who commit these atrocious acts. I believe our laws and criminal justice system should deal much more harshly with these predators and perpetrators.  It matters not whether the abusers are family members, posturing religious leaders, the neighbor next door, or drive-by abductors.  They have gone beyond the pale.  They need to be put away for good. 

From where do these unacceptable and damaging practices perpetrated upon the helpless or innocent come?  They come from brutish, uncivilized and morally bankrupt perverts (men mostly). They come, at least in our country, frequently from men who themselves seem to have been brought up in dysfunctional or non-morally- grounded homes or social environments. Yet that does not excuse their actions.  Upon investigation it seems that most of these people have been influenced by violent and sexually explicit or exploitive videos, movies, and television programs. There are few people who are forced to view these things.  Many or most are social isolates. 

Moral behavior for them, as well as for us, I believe, is “caught” as well as taught.  These abusers were once children themselves. It is the nature of many children, boys especially, to model the negative behavior of what they see and experience or participate in as they become older. One becomes like those he is around or sees constantly portrayed in ‘entertainment’ media. Traditions and culture are perpetuated for good or for ill. 

Upon whom are these crimes committed?  Children, especially ‘pretty children.’ 

Young children, by their nature as trusting, dependent, and initially helpless beings naturally align themselves with their parents and family and have no inherent reason to distrust their neighbors, teachers or other adults.  Yet these adults, more often than totally random strangers, become the children's assailants.  Children naturally love their homes and caregivers until trust and hope has become so damaged by repeated tyrannical or abusive treatment or by neglect that passive vulnerability or despair sets in and suicide, for some, seems the only way out.  My wife and I saw this in Samoa—a nation that ‘loves’ their families but because of victimization by extended family members or village neighbors has the highest female suicide rate in the world. These things are tragedies that must be stemmed. 

Recognition that the child in one’s stewardship or proximity is in reality a child of God (atheist or agnostic readers please read on) needs to be addressed in remedying the problem of child abuse or exploitation.  Just as we are not our own, (from a Christian perspective see I Corinthians 6:19-20) the children who live with us or are taught by us or simply come into our circumstantial space are not ours to use or abuse.  For parents, our children are loaned to us to love and nurture and rear to adulthood in righteousness. (see Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:21)  For others there is a civil duty to protect our young. This must be more forcefully taught from the pulpit and in the home and in our community organizations and more broadly understood by all. If people really believed and understood this, many behaviors would change.  

As knowledge of who these children are and whose these children are is critical for parents and all other caregivers, so too a child must understand his or her own undistorted identity and human rights.  It is his or her right that no adult can morally abrogate.   (See Romans 8:16; Psalms 127:3.) Even those who are not nominal Christians should know that children are not things to be used or abused. Children are not property of parents and young girls are not objects to be used by undisciplined and evil male predators. 

For a purportedly or historically Christian nation, then, if our society is to regain civility and protect our young, the culture of Christ must once more be afforded more credibility and pervade our homes and our culture at large. The Christian scriptures are more than literature: they are a guide to behavior that can bring peace, stability, and hope to individuals, families, communities and nations.  Christian leaders (most of our elected leaders are at least nominally Christian) and disciples of Christ must repeatedly teach and consistently model the behavior spelled out in our holy books if we hope for things to change. And until things change, we must be more concerned and protective of the victim or potential victim than with the perpetrator.     

I end with portions of a document that our country is a signatory of—though not ratified or accepted fully, to my knowledge—The UNICEF Convention on the Rights of the Child: Children’s rights and Responsibilities pamphlet (written in the 2^nd person for the child):

•   Article 19. No one should hurt you in any way.  Adults should make sure that you are protected from abuse, violence, and neglect.  Even your parents have no right to hurt you.
•   Article 34. You have the right to be protected from sexual abuse.  This means that nobody can do anything to your body that you do not want them to do, such as touching you or taking pictures of you or making you say things that you don’t want to say.
•    Article 37. Even if you do something wrong, no one is allowed to punish you in a way that humiliates you or hurts you badly. 
• Article 42.  All adults and all children should know about the Convention on the Rights of the Child.  You have a right to learn about your rights and adults should learn about them too.