In 2013, World
Health Organization deemed violence against women as a “significant public
health” issue.
It’s been a
year since the White House launched the “It’s On Us” campaign to battle sexual
assault in schools, colleges and universities. This initiative, although relevant
to USA, should be actively considered by all and sundry because sexual assault
is plaguing all countries. UK, USA, India, Sweden and South Africa are among
the top countries listing rape crimes.
Sexual
assault trended recently in India because a juvenile convict, who heinously
raped and murdered a 23 year old physiotherapy student in a moving bus, was
recently released from prison1 and assigned to an NGO. Cause for
such horrendous evil is known; Satan imprisons depraved humans to carry out
such heinous crimes.
The
statistics on sexual assault is terribly high. “UN Women” research declares
that 35% of women have experienced sexual assault by a non-partner and 70% of
women have experienced sexual assault from an intimate partner.2 A
2012 study at New Delhi reported that 92% of women experienced sexual assault
in public domain and 88% have experienced sexual assaults of the verbal nature.3
The plague of sexual assault is prevalent and will continue to be prevalent if
we remain silent or ignorant.
What’s the
impact of sexual assault?
The impact
is severe, for sexual assault adversely impacts both the physical and the mental
health of the survivors. Victims of sexual assault are quite likely to have
sexually transmitted infections, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes,
sleeplessness, high cholesterol, hypertension and obesity.4 They
could suffer emotionally from depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress
disorder, substance abuse, eating disorders, and could be suicidal.5
Therefore,
it’s on us to pledge to stop sexual assault.
What can we
do to stop sexual assaults? The victims of sexual assault could be unknown to
us but by no means are we immune to such gory violence.
“It’s on
us” campaign offers useful tips to prevent sexual assaults:
“1. Talk to your friends honestly
and openly about sexual assault.
2. Don't just be a bystander -- if
you see something, intervene in any way you can.
3. Trust your gut. If something
looks like it might be a bad situation, it probably is.
4. Be direct. Ask someone who looks
like they may need help if they're ok.
5. Get someone to help you if you
see something -- enlist a friend, RA, bartender, or host to help step in.
6. Keep an eye on someone who has
had too much to drink.
7. If you see someone who is too
intoxicated to consent, enlist their friends to help them leave safely.
8. Recognize the potential danger of
someone who talks about planning to target another person at a party.
9. Be aware if someone is
deliberately trying to intoxicate, isolate, or corner someone else.
10. Get in the way by creating a
distraction, drawing attention to the situation, or separating them.
11. Understand that if someone does
not or cannot consent to sex, it's rape.
12. Never blame the victim.” 6
While these
tips are pertinent to both Christians and non-Christians, how should the
Christian community, especially the churches, respond to sexual assault? In
other words, what have the churches done so far to prevent sexual assault?
The
Christian social justice organization, Sojourners, report a disappointing
response by the churches, “If you made a
short list of the issues the American church doesn’t talk about from the
pulpit, you’d probably find sexual and domestic violence topping out the list.”
7
How
often do pastors preach about sexual assault? Is there a dedicated ministry in the
local church to prevent sexual assaults and heal the survivors? If your answer
is in the negative to both these questions, then your church joins the list of
the majority of churches that ignore sexual assault.
Should the
Christian community be concerned about sexual assault? Yes! Active churchgoers
are being sexually assaulted.8 Hence, it is a given that the church
should actively minister to prevent and heal the survivors of sexual assault.
Why do
majority of local churches not actively minister to prevent and heal the
sexually assaulted? The June 2014 IMA World Health Survey “Broken Silence: A
Call for Churches to Speak Out” 9 reported that awareness among the
church leaders to deal with sexual assault is low. But on a positive note the
report declares that the leaders would do more if they possess proper tools and
resources.
What could
the local church do to help the survivors of sexual assault? Churches could learn from “Godly Response to
Abuse in Christian Environment” (GRACE), which engages six damaging entailments from
sexual abuse (denial, identity, shame, guilt, anger and despair) to minister to
the survivors of sexual assault.10
The local
church should educate its members so to help prevent sexual assaults and to
minister to those who have been assaulted sexually. Resources for pastors and
leaders interested in preventing and healing the sexually assaulted are
available at Sojourners, www.wewillspeakout.us, www.interfaithpartners.org, www.theraveproject.com,
www.saiv.org and www.faithtrustinstitute.org.11
If your
church does not have a ministry to help prevent and to minister to the sexually
assaulted, probably you could be a catalyst to launch this ministry. It’s on
you!
Sexual
predators are lurking. Innocent people are being victimized. The pain
experienced by the survivors is immense. The need is critical.
It’s on us
to help prevent and heal. Yes, it’s on us.
Endnotes:
Websites referenced were last accessed on 28th
December 2015
1 http://mic.com/articles/22727/jyoti-singh-pandey-gang-rape-victim-dying-declaration-to-doom-perpetrators#.BYRNLcGiq
2 http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures
3 Ibid.
4 https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/sexual_assault_report_1-21-14.pdf
5 Ibid.
6 https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/09/19/president-obama-launches-its-us-campaign-end-sexual-assault-campus
7 https://sojo.net/articles/broken-silence-poll-shows-lack-conversation-domestic-sexual-violence-churches#sthash.yjUJI72X.dpuf
8 http://www.imaworldhealth.org/images/stories/technical-publications/PastorsSurveyReport_final.pdf
9 Ibid.
10 http://www.netgrace.org/resources/2015/4/9/6-devastating-effects-of-sexual-assaultand-how-the-gospel-answers-them
11 http://www.imaworldhealth.org/images/stories/technical-publications/PastorsSurveyReport_final.pdf
4 comments:
Excellent! Thank you.
Thank you...my only hope is that the churches would take this matter seriously and act
I think to start with, parents have to make children aware of the danger very tactfully,.
Also support our children when they come back and tell us someone tried to vioalte them.
Some churches and schools in India do take the intitiative.
Sarah
I agree with you, Sarah. The responsibility of sex education is at home and with the parents. I also think that the churches that have an active ministry to help prevent and minister to the survivors should take an initiative to share their ministry experience with the other churches.
Thanks much for your thoughts.
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