Troubled...
I'm still in a state of shock. A friend confessed to me last night that he was a victim of child abuse. What appalled me further was that when he was 10, he tried to go for help to a clinic and he was turned away because they didn't have anyone trained to deal with this issue. It's so hard for a child in that situation to reach out and when he does, he's turned away because of legal concerns or incompetence or just plain stupidity? What are we coming to as a society?
I think the problem is that we don't talk about this issue enough and I'm guilty of it too. I remember once about how we all went out to a restaurant to eat and my friend started talking about how a guy went to a voodoo doctor in some part of Africa because he had AIDs and the doctor prescribed that he have sex with this 2-month old baby girl. And she was describing how that girl's face was still and void of expression, how she no longer feels any emotion, how he completely destroyed her. I felt hot tears forming in my eyes and I told her to stop - I couldn't take it anymore.
I'm guilty of it too. How can we expect kids to come forth to us if we ourselves are incapable of dealing with it? I know it is something so heinous that it makes me sick to my stomach... but we need to do something.
In North America, 1 in every 5 kids are abused and most by close family relatives. In developing countries like India and Pakistan, I won't be surprised if it's 1 out of 3 or even 1 out of 2. How bad does it have to get before we start talking about it?
I think the problem is that we don't talk about this issue enough and I'm guilty of it too. I remember once about how we all went out to a restaurant to eat and my friend started talking about how a guy went to a voodoo doctor in some part of Africa because he had AIDs and the doctor prescribed that he have sex with this 2-month old baby girl. And she was describing how that girl's face was still and void of expression, how she no longer feels any emotion, how he completely destroyed her. I felt hot tears forming in my eyes and I told her to stop - I couldn't take it anymore.
I'm guilty of it too. How can we expect kids to come forth to us if we ourselves are incapable of dealing with it? I know it is something so heinous that it makes me sick to my stomach... but we need to do something.
In North America, 1 in every 5 kids are abused and most by close family relatives. In developing countries like India and Pakistan, I won't be surprised if it's 1 out of 3 or even 1 out of 2. How bad does it have to get before we start talking about it?
posted by Moi at 11:10 p.m.
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