Gene's Blog

Stop Abuse

I got this invitation from the BlogCatalog to join them today in a project:

“Thousands of bloggers from around the world are joining together this Thursday, September 27th with a single message: Stop Abuse!

BlogCatalog would love for you to be one of them!

On Thursday, September 27th, post about any abuse topic you care about – child abuse, domestic abuse, animal abuse, drug abuse, emotional abuse, verbal abuse, political abuse – and let the world know you stand united with thousands of bloggers as part of the Bloggers Unite “Blog Against Abuse” campaign. Depending on your topic, you can even link to local, regional, national, or international organizations that you care about or support. Every post will count!

And I’m going to. First, I am going to recommend a couple of places recommended to me by others, young people who care. I’d encourage anyone reading this to support these organizations, after that I’m going to talk about another form of abuse that is close to my heart.

I’d recommend you encourage people to read “Do They Hear You When You Cry” by Fauziya Kassindja and to support the Equality Now organization.

Equality Now

Equality Now is an international human rights organization that works for the protection and promotion of women’s rights. Issues of concern to Equality Now include domestic violence, rape, female genital mutilation, reproductive rights, trafficking in women, and other forms of violence and discrimination against women that have historically been neglected by the international human rights movement. The Women’s Action Network of Equality Now is a growing force of activists around the world campaigning for the human rights of women.

And another wonderful place. The Animal Humane Society Which, of course, protects those little ones who give us all of their love and ask nothing in return, this place tries to help those whose human animals are lesser creatures than those they “own”.

Now I want to beat the drum for my own particular cause, though all of those listed above need be addressed and stopped, the one I want most dearly to see ended forever is child abuse. National statistics indicate that 1100 children a year die in the United States from child abuse. Most sadly, 90% of those suffered at the hands of someone in whom they should have been able to unconditionally trust, a parent or other caretaker. These little ones have no voice of their own and they have no idea what they could possibly have done to deserve such treatment. The truth is they don’t deserve such treatment. Children are the forgotten victims in our world today. Starvation, malnutrition, war, terrorism and parents, of all people, parents, abandon these innocents to unspeakable acts of violence and abuse. There are more than 3 million reports of neglect and abuse received by child protection agencies in the United States, 2/3’s of which are actually investigated. Estimates are that less than 20% of child sexual abuse instances are ever reported. How can it be so in a free country that we stand idly by, protesting a tax increase that would help these most deserving of all people in need, our own children.

President Bush has promised to veto a bill that would extend health care coverage to children because he does not want to go down the road toward socialized medicine. What social need could be greater than providing health care coverage to children? How many more children must die of neglect, abuse, malnutrition and starvation before we say enough? He will ask for $190 billion dollars to blow limbs off Iraqi children next year, okay, Iraqi adults too, but is not willing to extend health care coverage to children in this country because it is too costly and could actually lead to health care coverage for everyone, gawd forbid. This is compassionate conservatism showing its core values. Death over life. That really isn’t much of a motto for a country that bills itself as freedom’s haven, is it? What does it say there on the Statue of Liberty?

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Emma Lazarus (1849-1887)

This is an eloquent and beautiful portrayal of what was once the promise of America: a new land of equal opportunity. Isn’t it still carved into the concrete pillar at the base of the Statue of Liberty? When did we stop meaning that? Why did we? Does anyone know? Are those not still the core values of America? Are we not the land of the free and the brave?

I believe we still are and I join with other voices today in asking all of us to stand up when we see those values being abused, to be counted on to help stop the abuse, in any form and in any place, of our children. When you see an atrocious act taking place, intervene. Don’t look the other way. Call someone. Get help. But DO something. And, I don’t ask this solely for American children, I ask that you heed the voice within you, that voice which says we must end the conditions that create the poverty that breeds the violence that consumes our littlest and least protected souls. It IS time to say ENOUGH. Do so with your pocketbooks, do so with your votes, do so with your love. Please. much love, gene

If today brings even one choice your way
choose to be a bringer of the light :^) gene