Tag Archives: Rape

August 4, 2013 · 1:00 am

Not Democracy

“Then Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore her robe of many colors that was on her, and laid her hand on her head and went away crying bitterly” (2 Sam. 13: 19).

For those who may not be familiar with the Bible story, Tamar, a daughter of King David, was raped by her brother, Amnon.  She was denied justice.

Not a great deal of progress has been made in the Middle East since then.  Over 180 rapes have taken place in Tahrir Square while the world watches.  The possibility of justice for these victims remains remote.

As many as 30 to 100 men will isolate a woman, then violate her with their hands, literally tearing the clothing off her back.  Women may be beaten with chains, chairs, and other objects while being raped.  The genitals of some women have been cut.

Public violence against women has been a problem in Egypt before.  Foreign journalists, including Lara Logan and Sonia Dridi, have been assaulted and raped.  Even more disturbing perhaps, a UN survey on gender equality reported that 99% of the Egyptian women responding had been subjected to some form of sexual violence in their lives.

The message being sent is that women have no place outside the home.

A large part of the problem is the fact that sexual abuse is not a crime in Egypt.  Sexual violence may be committed without fear of reprisal.  Police treat rape victims as if they were the culpable party.

Tahrir Square is no Tiananmen Square.  Whatever else the protests ongoing in Tahrir Square may be, they are certainly not democracy, and should not be mistaken for some fledgling version of it.   We should not delude ourselves.

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

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July 28, 2013 · 1:00 am

Monster

A monster pled guilty to his despicable acts in open court this week.

To avoid the death penalty, Ariel Castro – the man who held three young women in Cleveland captive for 10 years, who brutally beat, raped, and starved them, killing one of his children in the womb – pled guilty to 977 counts.  Castro was sentenced to life in prison plus 1000 years.  The plea deal spares the women from testifying at trial.

Castro attempted to lay the blame for a decade of voluntary, heinous acts on supposed sexual abuse in his own past and an addiction to pornography.  This was nothing less than slander against the many child abuse survivors who would give their lives rather than harm a child.

According to Childhelp[i], about 30% of child abuse and neglect victims abuse or neglect their children.  This tragic figure tends to mask the fact that 70% of victims do not abuse or neglect their children.

Evil is, in other words, a result of choice.

The Abel study of non-incarcerated sex offenders (those offending against both child and adult victims) found individuals from every walk of life, and all levels of education; 80% between the ages 20 – 49; 53% married, formerly married, or at some point in a partner relationship; and the majority employed[ii].  In some 59% of cases, intense interest in sex with a non-consenting person (child or adult) began in adolescence[iii]  apparently without a trigger.

In studies of juvenile sex offenders, Johnson and Schreir reported prior physical or sexual abuse by 66%; Longo reported prior abuse by 47%[iv].  To the extent these figures are accurate, they suggest 34% – 53% of juvenile sex offenders were never themselves abused.

Admittedly, many factors influence our choices.  But the choices remain in our control.  Monsters make themselves.

[i] Childhelp, National Child Abuse Statistics, http://www.childhelp-usa.com/pages/statistics.

[ii] The Future of Children, Judith V. Becker, PhD, Princeton University http://www.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/publications/docs/04_02_09.pdf.

[iii] As above.

[iv] As above.

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

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June 19, 2013 · 8:00 am

Wrongly Convicted

“Happy is he…whose hope is in the Lord his God…Who keeps truth forever, Who executes justice for the oppressed…The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners” (Ps. 146: 5-7).

An Associated Press story recently highlighted the fact that bite mark evidence has lost credibility. At least two dozen of the men arrested and/or convicted on such evidence have since been exonerated by DNA testing. Many of the men were imprisoned for a decade or more.

Levon Brooks was sentenced to life after being convicted of the sexual assault and murder of his ex-girlfriend’s 3 year old daughter. Kennedy Brewer was sentenced to death in a similar case. The “human” bite marks on the little girls were later attributed to crayfish and insects in the water where the bodies were found. DNA testing in both cases matched Justin Johnson who, also, confessed. Johnson had a history of rape.

Cases involving the assault and death of children are particularly heinous. While moved to seek justice for these young victims, we must not jump to conclusions about guilt from a desire for closure. Joseph and the prophet, Jeremiah, were two of the biblical figures falsely imprisoned.

Jesus, Himself, was denied due process and convicted on the basis of perjured testimony. Worth remembering, as we pursue justice.

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

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August 29, 2012 · 6:42 pm

Ignorance and Evil

In Texas, the first of a series of cases is being tried involving an 11 y.o. girl raped by 20 men and boys, over a period of months. Some actually blame the girl.  In NY, a 16 y.o. killed the 5 y.o. granddaughter of a woman who had been kind to him.

Little can be said in the face of such ignorance and evil.

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

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December 19, 2011 · 1:00 am

Darkness Rising

I do not pretend to be an oracle or prophet.  But the signs of the times suggest darkness is rising.

Since I last wrote, a billion dollars of client funds are said to have vanished in the MF Global collapse.  A Texas woman unable to qualify for food stamps has shot herself and her children. Overseas, a young woman in Pakistan was murdered defending herself against rape.  In Egypt, fundamentalist parties have won over 60% of the vote in parliamentary elections.

All this is not a reason to lose hope. Rather, it should be an alarm to men and women of good will everywhere – those reaching out a hand to help their neighbors, those working for peace and justice, and those fighting to protect the rights God gave all.

This is not a time to surrender.  This is a time to fight – not with bullets or bombs, but with kindness toward those of any faith or none, with truth whatever the personal cost, and with prayer.  Above all with prayer for there is a Power greater than our own.

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

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