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What has happened to us?
What happens to a seemingly rational adult who sexually assaults a young child? What goes on his mind? How does he reach this point? A person who outwardly seems very normal wakes up in the morning, brushes his teeth, gets dressed, eats breakfast, goes to work, raises his children, and talks to his wife—and the whole time he maintains a dark, hidden corner that makes him assault children aged five, four, or three. We think he is a father, an uncle, a grandfather, or a big brother. What kind of person is this? What is he like? How does he arise from our midst? What does he mean for us?
And what happens to three-, four-, or five-year-old children when a person close to them—often very close—assaults their bodies? Research done with molested children discusses the trauma that distorts their personality. These children will grow up to be youth who are traumatized, have problems with sexual desire, are sexually unbalanced, unable to maintain emotional relationships, and suffer depression, in addition to possible suicide attempts and a lack of trust that will last their whole lives.
And why not? Because a person they encountered with the utmost innocence is the one that hurt them. How can they regain this trust to live the rest of their lives?
Children who have been sexually assaulted develop an intense wariness because the attacker lives in their immediate environment enveloped in the normalcy of family, friends, and neighbors. Young children are alone facing a horrible battle because it is taboo for them to violate this “normalcy”—this is the message they receive from the surrounding environment. Thus they behave in ways that the research describes as similar to traumatized Holocaust survivors.
They do not know when the next assault may come. They must maintain a façade of “normal” behavior and so they are constantly on edge and remain so.
The question is why is sexual assault on children on the rise? What in heaven’s name is happening? Are we as a society making a huge mistake that we are not even aware of? What is it in our culture that allows such destruction?
How desperate, lost, hopeless, and disturbed must an adult be to find “solace” in the bodies of young children? The statistics indicate that we are not talking about mentally disturbed people receiving treatment, but neighbors, people who live next door and act like us. They are like us. What has happened to us?
Reader responses to the article
It’s because of the occupation—The same torment.
A country whose values have totally collapsed. There is no value given to a person’s life, not to mention his dignity. Ms. Moskona-Lerman speaks the truth, but does anyone in our country care? Unfortunately, this is frequent. This is more than simply harming a child’s dignity. In our horrible country, people’s lives have no value, not to mention their dignity and mental health. Whether someone lives or dies is no one’s concern and you can see the system of treatment. Look at the shortage of cancer drugs. Look at the courts and the police. A man threatens to kill his wife and the judge releases him. Even worse, a man does kill his wife and the world doesn’t react and the judge doesn’t throw him in prison. It’s just a marginal news story about an unknown woman who no longer exists. It doesn’t concern anyone. A driver is reckless on the streets and locals call the police and beg them to arrest him “before he kills someone” and the police do nothing. Then the expected accident happens, people die, and the world does nothing. Bosses are not dismissed, the policeman who ignored the complaint is not fired and society doesn’t condemn him. No one considers him a monster. There are women who have abortions or don’t get pregnant because it’s only more children who will suffer and no one cares. Again, the world doesn’t react and people don’t scream with those people who are living an ongoing nightmare. You can see the latest stories on the television about the ammonia warehouses in Haifa. Some experts think that if there is a war or an earthquake, this hazardous material could kill 100,000 people. They’ve been talking about it since 2006, but nothing is done. Because at most 100,000 people will die. But so what? They’re just citizens, just pieces of meat. No investor would think to protect them. Since when have people’s lives been more important than money? So is it any wonder that no one cares about children being raped? No policeman will really feel true sympathy or shock. The most they will do is indict the rapist and maybe the case will come to court in 2 to 4 years. This country is on its way to becoming something horrible, cold and inhuman—Its streets.
July 8, 2008
By: Billie Moskona-Lerman
Written By: AD2
Date Posted: 9/3/2008
Number of Views: 15
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