When I talk to people about sexual abuse that women in places like India experience, I see a great sadness fill their eyes. When I tell them about women being conned into becoming prostitutes, being sold by their parents, or being raped on a public street while people walk right by, they react with disgust and say that they want to end that injustice, and state how great it is that I will be on a trip that will allow me to help. Why is it, then, that sexual exploitation in North America is so overlooked, and why those who are victims of sexual assault and exploitation are not viewed as victims, but almost as the perpetrators of their own attack? I will soon write a post specifically about the treatment of women in India, so stay tuned for that, but for right now, being that this is a topic that is currently in the spotlight, I’m going to talk about sexual assault in North America.
First, I’m going to start with some statistics:
•For every 1,000 sexual assaults, 994 perpetrators walk free.
•Every 2 minutes an American is sexually assaulted – every 8 minutes, that victim is a child.
•Approximately 444, 500 Americans are sexually assaulted each year: 61,000 are children, 18,900 are military, 80,600 are inmates, and 284,000 are individuals 12 and older.
•1 in 6 American women have experienced attempted or completed rape in their life time.
•1 in 33 American men have experienced attempted or completed rape in their life time.
•9 of every 10 victims are women.
•3 of every 4 assaults are committed by someone that victim knows.
•Sexual exploitation makes up 79% of human trafficking – women and girls are predominately the victims
•The average age of a girl entering sex trafficking/prostitution is 12-14 years old
•Currently 14,500-17,500 people are trafficked into the US annually (not only for sexual exploitation, however).
•95% of prostituted women want out of prostitution but can’t leave due to circumstances like having no other job skills, needing to be able to provide food and shelter for themselves and possibly family, and being under the control of their pimp.
While some of these statistics may come as a shock, many are actually talked about quite commonly – most people have just become desensitized to them. I can remember sitting in my all girl Freshmen PE class during the self defence unit as my teacher read off sexual assault statistics. 30 fourteen and fifteen year old girls sat around our teacher, realizing how threatening the world was to us: “1 in 4 of you will be sexually assaulted before you turn 18. 1 in 5 of you will be physically and/or sexually assaulted by a dating partner before you leave high school. 1 in 6 of you will be or have already experienced attempted or completed rape in your lifetime.” You could feel a heaviness fall over the usually chatty and upbeat group of girls that filled that room as our teacher sobered us to the world around us. As I have grown older, I have noticed that there is less of a reaction when I state statistics to people, particularly about sexual assault. Even more disturbing is the amount of people in our society who actually blame the victim for what was done to them.
While everyone in our society needs to become more understanding and compassionate when it comes to men and women who are sexually assaulted, I think that it is especially important for the Christian community to show an outpouring of love to all victims. Whether they were raped by a close friend, family member, or a complete stranger, it is incredibly important to love, respect, and care for these victims with all that we have – no blaming, no questions asked. Jesus teaches that we must be compassionate, kind, and humble, and he doesn’t just mean when interacting with people whose lifestyle we agree with, who are fellow believers, or whose lives we understand. He calls us to love everyone wholeheartedly. This kind of love needs to be exhibited in our everyday life, and becomes extremely important when dealing with cases of sexual assault.
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience…” ~ Colossians 3:12
An individual who has been attacked often feels worthless, shameful, and to blame for what happened to them, and for that reason, only around 30% of sexual assaults are reported. If someone does have the courage to report what has happened to the police, or even just enough courage to tell a friend, what a better way is there to show them the incredible love of God and the worth that is found in Him than by treating them with incredible compassion, kindness, love, and respect in this time of vulnerability and pain.
One of the many beautiful things about God is that He loves you and shows you your worth no matter what you have been through. Whether it is a mental illness, being abandoned by a close friend or family member, or an attack that you feel stripped away your worth and purity, He looks past those things and sees your beauty, strength, and potential. He guides you and shows you a way to use whatever terrible thing that you have been through to grow stronger and to even help others. I’m not saying that just because you have God on your side, whatever you’re going through will be easy – it would be completely naive and untrue to say that. There will be painful and dark times as you move towards healing, but nonetheless, you will always have God to light your way.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?… No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ~ Romans 8:35-39
Sexual assault is a problem that affects everyone – men, women, and children – and that needs to be addressed through emphasis on teaching about consent (starting at a young age), improvements in the criminal justice system that so often allows perpetrators to walk free, and an eradication of the culture that blames the victims for what was done to them. Further, we as Christians need to be sure to create a loving and supportive environment, both for those within and outside of the church, that allows victims to feel as though they can open up about what they have been through without judgment or blame. Our duty as Christians is to draw others to God by showing them the love of Christ through our day-to-day actions, and I believe that how we handle sexual assault is one of the countless ways to do that.
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Statistics and other information collected from the following sources:
https://rainn.org/statistics/scope-problem
https://www.nsopw.gov/en-CA/Education/FactsStatistics
