At five years old, toothless, I sang, “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth,” but deep down I wanted so much more. I wanted a day without fear of abuse. I wanted that childlike wonder that I saw all around me at Christmas time. Abuse came in all flavors in my home. One wrong move and it was all out war, with screaming of obscenities, swinging of fists, open hand slaps across the face, pulling of hair, shaking until fireworks burst in my head. Then in moments of calm I tried to catch my breath, but I was lured behind closed doors. Shockingly, my stepfather was even so brazen to conduct his evil out in the open. He forced me, with his iron hand, to perform perverted acts and tell me how much he loved me and this special time was our secret. He said he needed to teach me so much about life. If ever I rebelled the violence would escalate and then he would turn on my mother and blame me. As I grew older he threatened killing my mother if I ever told. My abuse started at age 3 and did not end until age 17.
As a grown woman I know too much about life. I know about the most evil acts perpetrated on a child. Though for years I felt to blame, I know now I did nothing to deserve such inhumane violence.
Days before Christmas my heart breaks for to the millions upon millions of children that are suffering in their own personal hell, bearing the burden of abuse alone with the world turning a blind eye. There are millions of children whose childlike wonder has been robbed by child sexual abuse and I know that pain.
I may be idealistic but all I want for Christmas is a world that is safe for children and healing for survivors. My Christmas wish is for adults to face the silent epidemic of child sexual abuse with a courage and compassion to make a difference. We can not continue to look the other way while millions of children are slaughtered by sexual abuse, and while millions of adults live in the shadows, hiding the pain of abuse with most of them suffering in self destructive behaviors. Courage means that you become vigilant and a protector of the most vulnerable among us, and compassionate to those who have suffered. My Christmas wish is to save the innocence that is stolen and to protect the childlike wonder and joy that is destroyed through these vile acts.
I wish more people would (that you would) get involved with our Movement, THE VOICE MOVEMENT, to battle for social change in terms of addressing the root issues behind abuse, legal change with removing the statute of limitations for prosecuting, and educating adults who work with and around children about prevention and protection. As I plow through all the daily issues and challenges associated with VOICE Today, I wish for the resources and the people to do the work needed, and for strategic relationships to be established that will allow us to get our prevention and protections training materials recognized, accepted, widely distributed, and everyone is trained to predict and prevent. I pray for a day when my phone doesn’t ring with another story of a child whose been brutally assaulted and left confused and injured to navigate life, which already holds mountains of challenges. My wish is for THE VOICE MOVEMENT to become viral to promote awareness, prevention and healing programs worldwide.
You can help make my Christmas wish come true. Please take five minutes to watch the VOICE Today POP Points. VOICE Up, have courage to protect the children in your sphere of contact. Join the VOICE MOVEMENT – donate, volunteer, host a prevention and healing workshop in 2012!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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