Category Archives: Violence Against Women

January 21, 2024 · 1:00 am

Enslaved 2024 – Part 2

As discussed in Part 1 of this series, human trafficking is the form slavery takes today [1].

Red Flags

The red flags for trafficking include the following [2]:

A.  In the Workplace, Generally

  • A job offer that seems to be too good to be true.
  • A job offer that requires a move far from family and friends, where the recruiter or prospective employer declines to provide detailed information about the job.
  • A prospective employer who refuses to provide a signed contract, or asks employees to sign a contract in a language they cannot read.
  • A prospective employer who collects fees from a potential employee for the mere “opportunity” to work at a particular job.
  • Promised pay withheld by a recruiter or employer after work has been done.
  • Dangerous work conditions without training, adequate breaks, safety gear, or other protections.
  • Inhumane living conditions provided by an employer.
  • Monitoring by an employer of all interaction with others.
  • Isolation by an employer from support systems.
  • Pressure by an employer to stay on the job.
  • Control by an employer of a passport and identity documents.
  • Threats of deportation or other harm by an employer.

Continue reading →

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January 14, 2024 · 1:00 am

Enslaved 2024 – Part 1

File:ValentinGalochkin 1965 Slavery.jpg

“Slavery – A Study in Marble” by Valentin Galochkin, Author Valentin Galochkin, (PD)

The White House has proclaimed January as Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month [1].

Scope

Over 40 million people are trafficked worldwide [2A].  Women and girls constitute about 71%  of all human trafficking victims [2B].  In fact, one in every four victims of modern slavery is a child [2C].

Geographic Distribution

Trafficking centers around areas with international travel hubs (airports and seaports), access to highways, seasonal work, a hospitality industry (often associated with tourism), a sharp disparity between rich and poor, and a large immigrant population [3A][8].

A. Overseas

According to the International Labor Organization, Asia and the Pacific region have the highest incidence of forced labor and forced marriages [5].

B. United States

In our country, experts estimate that there are over 199,000 instances of human trafficking (which includes sex trafficking) annually [4A].

The top ten states for trafficking in 2022 were Mississippi, Nevada, Missouri, Nebraska, Florida, Texas, California, Arkansas, Oregon, and Georgia [2D]. Continue reading →

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January 7, 2024 · 1:00 am

Rape and Sexual Assault at the US Coast Guard Academy

File:Seal of the United States Coast Guard.svg

US Coast Guard Seal with motto Semper Paratus (“Always Ready”), Source Navy Reservist (March 2008), (PD)

It is a shame that we must begin the New Year with a focus on misogyny in the military. 

Four courageous women have testified before Congress to the rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment they were forced to endure at the US Coast Guard Academy with no consequences to the perpetrators [1A]. 

Legally, rape is non-consensual sexual intercourse by physical force, threats, or drugs [2A].  Sexual assault involves any non-consensual sexual contact [2B].  Sexual harassment involves unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, verbal or physical intimidation either in the workplace or in an educational setting [3].

  • One woman had to continue living and studying beside the student who had sexually assaulted her [1B].
  • Another attempted suicide after being raped and sexually assaulted by two different classmates [1C].
  • A third woman was groped in front of dozens of laughing onlookers [1D].
  • The fourth woman was actually penalized for the damage which resulted when two students broke down her dorm room door to attack her and her roommate in their beds [1E].

The demeanor of these women was professional, their testimony compelling.  As CNN reports, their stories are not unique. Continue reading →

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December 31, 2023 · 1:00 am

Who I Was Born to Be

Wishing All of You a Happy New Year!

FOR MORE OF MY ARTICLES ON POVERTY, POLITICS, AND MATTERS OF CONSCIENCE CHECK OUT MY BLOG A LAWYER’S PRAYERS AT: https://alawyersprayers.com

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December 24, 2023 · 1:00 am

Christmas Star

All of us were children once.  What we survived over the years shaped our character and our lives.

At Christmas we celebrate the birth of another child, a Savior who came into this broken world for our sakes.  We were not all rescued, but we can — because of Him — be redeemed.

Wishing All of You a Merry Christmas!

FOR MORE OF MY ARTICLES ON POVERTY, POLITICS, AND MATTERS OF CONSCIENCE CHECK OUT MY BLOG A LAWYER’S PRAYERS AT: https://alawyersprayers.com

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December 3, 2023 · 1:00 am

Mattress

File:Discarded mattress by trash bin (18822330575).jpg

Discarded mattress near trash bin, Author Eric Fischer
(Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic) 

Though women are encouraged to be sexually active in our culture, they are not always treated kindly when they take that advice.

Mattress

A sexually available girl who has many partners.

Mattress Back

A girl who has sex so often, whether with the same partner (nympho) or many different ones (slut), that her back seems to be constantly on a mattress.

-Urban Dictionary

Child victims of sexual abuse must negotiate this terrain with care. The emotional scars they carry do not make that an easy task.

Some women abused in childhood will seek as adults to reclaim their bodies by initiating frequent, anonymous sex. For them, sex is an attempt at self-affirmation. But no amount of it will fill the void left behind by abuse [1].

Tragically, a great many prostitutes fall into this category [2]. Drug use to dull the pain is common in the sex trade [3].

Other women will engage in sex (often with many partners) in a desperate search for love. These are the girls passed from boy to boy in high school; the women who settle for one night stands, since nothing else is being offered. Continue reading →

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November 12, 2023 · 1:00 am

Passed Over at the Dance – Love and Failure

File:Rose by manuel gegenhuber.jpgImage by Manuel Gugenhuber (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported)

Many of us feel that we failed at love.  We were passed over at the dance.  We picked the wrong partners — those who did not or could not love us, those who loved us once but no longer care.  Those who raised our hopes, then shattered our dreams.  Those who simply walked away.

There are countless reasons for this.  It may be that childhood abuse colored our choices.  It may be that those choices were limited by our circumstances.  It may be that a partner changed over the years…or that we changed.  It may be that a partner was equally wounded from the start.

Rejection is heartbreaking.  The end of love is heartbreaking.  We think the years we invested were wasted, that our lives were wasted.  That our love was poured out on sand.

But heartbreak and failure are not one and the same.  Nearly everyone alive has experienced heartbreak, at one time or another.  Sad love songs are more popular than upbeat ones.

God, Himself, is love (1 John 4: 16).  He created us to know, love, and serve Him.  We do that by obeying His laws (1 John 5: 2), and serving others (Eph. 2: 10).

None of us live up to God’s standards — not as we should, not on a constant basis.  We stray.  We make mistakes, despite our good intentions.  But if we pour out our love, as best we can — whether on spouses, lovers, siblings, friends, children, or strangers — we have fulfilled the central purpose for which we were created (Luke 7: 47).

That is not failure.  Whatever the outcome, that is not failure.

FOR MORE OF MY ARTICLES ON POVERTY, POLITICS, AND MATTERS OF CONSCIENCE CHECK OUT MY BLOG A LAWYER’S PRAYERS AT: https://alawyersprayers.com

 

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November 5, 2023 · 1:00 am

“Stages of Trauma Bonding” by Cynthia Bailey Rug

7 Stages Of Trauma Bonding explained on a dark navy background

Image courtesy of Sandstone Care

Below is a post by the Christian author, Cynthia Bailey Rug.  While this post is specifically directed toward the victims of narcissism, it is highly relevant to the victims of childhood abuse and/or domestic violence who are particularly vulnerable to trauma bonding.

Cynthia Bailey Rug blogs at https://cynthiabaileyrug.wordpress.com  .  The full text of this post dated 10/14/23 can be found there.

“Trauma bonding, also known as Stockholm Syndrome, is a common & strange phenomenon among victims of ongoing abuse [1][2].  It happens when abusers aren’t abusive all of the time, & show their victims random kindnesses.  Those kindnesses seem to prove to victims that their abuser isn’t all bad, & they really do care for their victim.  That thinking bonds the victim to their abuser & makes them more willing to tolerate abuse.

Narcissists are exceptionally good at trauma bonding their victims to them.  It happens very subtly & in gradually increasing stages of toxicity.  Trauma bonding is much like the story of putting a frog in a pot of water.  If the water is boiling when he goes in, he recognizes the danger & hops out immediately.  But, if it’s warm & gradually the temperature increases to boiling, he won’t notice he’s in danger until it’s too late…

The first stage of trauma is love bombing.  This is when the narcissist [or other abuser] showers you with love, praise & adoration.  You can do no wrong.  You are absolutely perfect!…Gifts can be a part of love bombing too…” Continue reading →

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October 8, 2023 · 1:00 am

Greatness

Dorothy Height (2008), Author Adrian Hood (CC BY-SA 4.0 International)

“Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals.”

-Dorothy Height

Dorothy Height was an African American social worker, journalist, politician, and civil rights advocate [1].  She served as Chairperson of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and was a founding member of the National Women’s Political Caucus.

At the National Council of Negro Women, Ms. Height worked to end lynching in the South, restructure the criminal justice system, and increase voter registration.  Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson frequently sought her advice. Continue reading →

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October 1, 2023 · 1:00 am

Not Love

File:Andrew Tate - James Tamim Upload (Cropped Wide Portrait).png

Andrew Tate on “Anything Goes with James English” podcast (2023).  Source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjYjLJpzeas, Author Anything Goes with James English (CC Attribution 3.0 Unported)

The social media “influencer” Andrew Tate who once contended that the victims of rape should bear responsibility for their violation has, himself, been charged in Romania with rape, human trafficking, and the formation of a crime syndicate to sexually exploit women [1][2].

Evidence exists of Tate and his cohorts coercing women into sexual acts [3][4].  Tate contends that he is innocent.  Hopefully, the courts will sort this out, and the appropriate consequences will follow.

Another misogynist, even another rapist, is not news.

The larger question is why an egotist like Tate would have gained such popularity (particularly among young men), and why women so often fall prey to men like this.

Hypermasculinity

“Hypermasculinity” is the sociological term for a toxic form of masculinity characterized by the view that violence is virile; that danger is exciting; and that women should be treated with less regard than one would have for an animal [4].

To be a man, by this definition, is to be merciless and wholly self-centered. Continue reading →

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