I saw this post over at Neil’s blog, he’s going to be interviewed about life as a male victim of sexual abuse next Weds. on the Darkness to Light radio show. I’ll be working when the show airs live, but I will be sure to give it a listen from the site shortly afterwards. Obviously, I do have some interest in the topic, and it’s not often you see the topic of sexual abuse specifically of males being addressed, so I’m glad for that, if nothing else!
Pin This topic has been in the news since the revelations and accusations about Harvey Weinstein went public a few weeks back. At the time, I had a number of thoughts, but didn’t really put many of them out for public consumption because the entertainment industry isn’t really anything I know first hand. I know enough…
Annaleigh is hosting this month’s Carnival Against Child Abuse, and since it is the month of Valentine’s Day, she added the topic of Love to the Carnival lineup. One of the things that takes a while to learn, and yet in retrospect seems so silly, is how often survivors, in their struggles with self-esteem, spend…
Pin What I want to address, however, is how our society defines victims and how it leaves far too many people behind. The article above is a great example. How many people, if asked about sex trafficking, picture little white girls or women abducted from Target? Probably a lot. For many, the only information they’ve ever gotten about trafficking are warnings about Target or shopping mall parking lots from their Facebook friends. They don’t know how many teenage boys from broken homes, living in poverty, are pulled into being trafficked. How many gay youths, rejected by their families, fall victim to it? How many immigrant children here, with no parental supervision, are sold off by the people who should be protecting them from sexual slavery?Â
Those stories, even if they’re told, are not going to grab national headlines. They are not going to evoke world-wide outrage and sympathy. Those are things that happen to “other people”. We might even be tempted to start looking for reason why it’s their own fault, or at least the parents fault, right?Â
From a media perspective, we also have to keep this in mind. An abduction of a young white girl from her home, is a rare event. It’s actually newsworthy because it happens so rarely. When it happens, it’s shocking. A trans, minority, teen being coerced into selling themselves, with no one to turn to for protection, isn’t any of those things. A gay male teen being kicked out of their parents house and trying to make it through homelessness, is also not something that happens so rarely that there would be major news coverage of it. These things happen all of the time. So often, that they aren’t really news.Â
So, which group should we have support and services for? I’d like to vote for ALL OF THEM. But that will take educating people about the reality of who gets abused, who gets trafficked, and for us all to accept that it happens everywhere. Until we get there, and are willing to see all different types of people as victims, we will continue to fail one group or another. That’s not acceptable.Â
Don’t know if anyone’s noticed that I added a couple of survivor blogs to the blogroll, End of Abuse and The last one. As always, if you know of any blogs by abuse depression or disability survivors, please pass them on!
I’ve been approached by a fellow survivor who is writing a book. They’ve gotten through Part 1 and really want to be able to share what they have so far with some kindred spirits, folks who are embracing healing from abuse and attempting to turn their adult lives into something positive. Basically, they would like…
Pin I feel like the universe, or someone, something, whatever, is pushing me to pay attention to this subject. Over the last couple of months, I’ve had multiple conversations about addiction, specifically about using drugs or alcohol to self-medicate. The variety of stories that I’ve heard, some first hand, others not, seem to have many things…
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It is always hard for anyone, male or female to speak out about the abuse that happens to them in their lives. It takes a lot of nerve for Neil to come forward with his story and I cheer him and support him on every step of the way.
Fighting this terrible crime starts with people like Neil speaking out. The more people who do, the better chance we have to fight against sexual abuse in any human being of any age, especially children.
Stay strong and someday, we will unite,
Ernie Meyer, Author of “The Story of Rita, Risen from Hell” and http://www.rapecounsel.com.