A Neglected Subject

My husband brought a song to my attention the other day that really killed me. The more I thought about it and the more I looked into it I realized the subject of this song is not talked about enough. People are ignoring it, neglecting it, denying that it is as big of a problem as it is. What's the topic? Rape, Porn, Incest. These are painful topics and I think that is why many of us choose to ignore them. The more I learn the more I realize that ignoring them doesn't make them go away, and doesn't help educate our children in how to avoid these things. The song is Constance. I encourage you to watch the video and listen to the lyrics. To those of you who don't care for that style of music, or have slow Internet providers, here are the lyrics. Please read them or watch the video. This is a real story, you can read what Constance has to say on the website that was created to give victims a chance to speak their mind. This story has touched many young women and other victims of rape and incest. If you have the time read some of their stories, you're heart will break.

But it's not just about Constance. It's about the millions of people who are victims of sex crimes. Rape, assault, abuse, incest, porn. They all hurt. Want to know some painful facts?

• 1 in 3 women is raped or abused in her lifetime.


• the average sex offender has 117 victims.


• 38% of reported rapes are by friends or acquaintances


• 28% are from an intimate relationship- close family member or boyfriend/girlfriend


• 6% is a distant relative


• only 26% is a stranger.


• 1 in 6 children under the age of 12 is a victim of rape


• every two and a half minutes someone somewhere in America is assaulted.

These are just reported rapes, on one site I looked at it said 44% of rapes go unreported. Imagine how that changes the statistics. Please be aware of your surroundings. There are offenders around you. Do not live in paranoia, but make sure you know who lives or works in your neighborhood, or near the park you bring your children to. Please make sure you always keep an eye on your children, and do not let them go to any one's house if you do not know their parents. A great way to get the knowledge you need of your neighborhood is to check out Family watch dog. You can enter in an address and it will bring up a map with the list of offenders around, what their charge is and if they work near by. It's a great resource if you're moving to a new town too. Use it, it could keep your child safe.

If you are a victim of rape I feel your pain. I am sorry that someone has hurt you in such a bad way. Please know you are loved, you are not dirty, it is not your fault. You did not do anything to deserve this pain you feel. God loves you more than you can ever imagine and He is here for you. There are a bunch of websites where you can get help. You can find people to talk to who have gone through the same thing. Please take advantage of them. here are a few:

http://www.911rape.org/

http://www.iamconstance.org/constance.php

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/help/welcome.html

http://www.rainn.org/?gclid=CISzvoWYjo4CFR78gAodqF2tYw

http://www.voices-action.org/

And rape is just one of the many sexual crimes being committed every day. Pornography is another silent issue. I know we try to ignore it or think it doesn't affect us. We cannot live like that. We also can't be so naive as to think that pornography is not an issue for Christians. I wouldn't be surprised if it was more of an issue in the church.

Here are some facts about people and porn:

• 17% of all women admit to struggling with porn


• Women, far more than men, are likely to act out their behaviors in real life, such as having multiple partners, casual sex, or affairs.


• 1 out of 3 visitors to adult websites are women


• 9.4 million women access adult websites each month


• 53 % of men at Promise Keepers said they viewed porn in the last week


• 47% of Christians say Porn is a major problem in their home


• the average age of first Internet exposure to porn is 11


• 80 % of 15-17 year olds have had multiple hardcore exposures


• 90% of 8-16yr olds have viewed porn online


• 26 Children's characters are linked to thousands of porn links (including Pokemon and Action Man)

Still think Porn isn't an issue? here's some facts about the porn websites.

• there are 4.2 million pornographic websites (12% of total websites)


• 25% of total daily search engine requests are pornographic


• 8% of total emails are pornographic


• There are 72 million visitors to porn sites annually

And now some amazing facts about the porn industry- ready to get your socks blown off?

• The porn industry brings in $57 billion world wide and $12 billion in the US


• Adult Videos bring in $20 billion a year


• Escort Services bring in $11 billion


• magazines bring in $7.5 billion


• sex clubs bring in $5 billion


• phone sex brings in 44.5 billion


• Child pornography brings in $3 billion

If you are struggling with a porn addiction please know you are not alone. Rest Assure there is help for you too, XXXchurch is a great place to get that help. These are people who love and care about you, and have been where you are. Do not be scared to take the first step to admitting you're addicted.

I hope I have not lost your interest, I know there are a lot of statistics in this blog, but i wanted you to know the truth. To see that these are issues that we are facing in our towns. Use the watchdog to make sure your neighborhood is as safe as you thought it was (mine wasn't). Talk to your children about rape, sex, porn and what to do if something like that ever happened. Talk to you husband or wife and make sure they are aware of how big this issue is. It might bring forth healing from the past or bring secrets out to the open. If that is the case be loving, patient and kind. Make sure they know they are not alone and that they can get help. Know the facts- research these topics more. I didn't even give you any stats for incest so that will give you someplace to start.

I got most of my information from the following websites: http://xxxchurch.com/07/gethelp/index.php, http://www.rainn.org/statistics/index.html, http://www.iamconstance.org/constance.php