Warning:
The Topic Being Discussed Below May Be Too Much For Some To Handle.
Discretion In Reading Is Advised.
For the next 5 articles written, this will be a discussion on various parts of the issues behind a lack of true work to protect our children from issues being discussed here-in.
Since the massacre at Newtown, part of the regular slogan yelling from the Left has been “We want to protect our children”. I applaud that. However, let’s get down to the nitty gritty. If we are truly to protect our children, attacks on the Left and their attacks on the Second Amendment need to STOP. The most under reported on issue affecting our children is pedophilia. Each year thousands of our children are sexually abused by family members, friends of the family, or are sold around for sexual favors by someone. The later is known as Domestic Sex Trafficking or DMST. DMST is something that affects more Children than we care to admit or face.
Before we go any further, allow me to be completely up front. I am a DMST & Child Sex Abuse survivor. From birth to age 8 I was subjected to horrors I will not discuss here. Needless to say, many of my views on this subject are colored by my experiences.
There are many wonderful Organizations out there fighting to protect our children. Hats off to them. My issue is not with them, rather it is with Main Stream Media & with our Government. Each day in the news we see little about the epidemic of child sex abuse, unless a case is being profiled. While the naming and shaming that happens is a good thing, MORE need to be done. One of the most important things that needs to be done in the future is profiling the lack of strong laws to protect our children. One such lack is in the laws that dictate Statute of Limitations. Many states, like Pennsylvania, have longer (20+ years) Statutes that allow for prosecution. Many more have shorter. This is not good enough.
In many ways, what is needed is a statute similar to murder. With that, no limitations on prosecution are in place. I agree with that completely. In Fact, I think that needs to be applied across the board to all cases of Child Sexual Exploitation as well. From cases of Incest to cases of Prostitution of minors, all offenders should be locked up for life. If they are willing to commit the crime than there should be no mercy on them.
When it comes to the treatment of victims of DMST, our government has failed even more. Many states and municipalities wish to treat the victims as criminals. The long held view, regardless of age, is that they chose to be walking the streets and deserve to be treated as criminals because of this. While, in many cases, the former is true, the later is a big problem. You see, regardless of why, the ones who are victims of DMST, are just that, victims. As such, the police are forced to fail them instead of protecting them. The laws in these states and municipalities need to change to prosecute the offender and do more to protect the victim. Until this happens, we continue to fail.
Bottom line is, the government, while screaming to limit gun ownership, is failing those who need them most, our children. Until this changes and they take on the task of doing more to protect the victim and punish the perpetrator, they can not truly claim to do more to protect our children.
Next time, I will be discussing the Main Stream Media and their failures in doing more to help stem the tide of Sexual Abuse / Trafficking of children in this Nation.
