Community Profile - Child Abuse: Nowhere is Safe

Imperial Valley College

CHild Abuse:

Nowhere Is Safe

Peter Van Tran

English 110

Professor Lewenstein

11May 2019

                                                                                                

Peter Van Tran

Professor Lewenstein

English 110

11 May 2019

Child Abuse: Nowhere is Safe

Our Tran family is what one would call a stereotypical Asian family, we are strict, always keeping things in the family for the fear of disgracing our prestige/face, and always thinking we are in the right even though they are not. On December of 2012, my cousin Lily told me of what happened to her, and at the same time, I also told her of my own similar experience. She informed me of her molestation/rape by our uncle in the family. When she was 5 while visiting the family home in San Diego, she stayed overnight in one of our aunts' bedroom and in the morning she was attacked by ‘Him’; however, before he was able to fully penetrate’ her, someone was proceeding up the stairs. As of now she always doubles checks if the door is locked and that no one, but her or parents have keys to her place. Her bedroom is hers alone; moreover, because of it, she is now an extremely light sleeper.  

Lily Ly is a Vietnamese-American female born and raised here in the US. She is now twenty-two years old and working as a senior caretaker in San Diego, California. Lily Ly is my paternal cousin from my biological father’s side. I have known her since I was a young child. She was my point of interest as a community profile subject, for she experienced the same or similar events as that of my baby sister Michelle by the same perpetrator. What Lily experienced as a child gives away towards a whole major issue at hand in today’s world. That is running rampant. The Ministry of Women and Child Development releases the results of a national level survey of NCPCR in 2017, in which 53% of the children revealed that they had been subjected to sex abuse and were unreported (Jobin par. 2).  Child rape and sexual abuse. Lily Ly my cousin suffered through a brain clot and almost died from it during the court proceedings. As of now, her dream job is to get into social services for children and help kids that need protection. The world is a dangerous place; however, it is far more dangerous for children then it is for adults. There has to be a way to change the current predicament in today’s society for the better.

Lily brings up the issue of child rape, and what the child that was victimized has to go through from their experience; moreover, on her own personal experiences. This topic is related to a significant event that happened in my life, for where my baby sister was also raped by the same perpetrator as the one that raped my dear Cousin Lily. While with this Community Profile research paper I want to tell, no show other victims to report about what happened to them, and people to understand this is a significant issue in today’s world and know that it shouldn’t be hidden. Although families are designed to support and protect children. Child rape is a growing, rampant issue in today’s world, and sadly the victims are most often assaulted by the people they trust the most.

In this world a multitude of are both created and born. There is nothing we can do about people who are born with the tendency to kill or rape, yet we can stop the ones that are created. All criminals were once children themselves; however, along the way they were abused somehow and developed their tendency towards rape, murder, or both. Author Jobin Ponnambily argues there is truly no place safe for a child indoors, nor outdoors. Futhermore, Jobin included a Newspaper article that reported in The Hindu on 14 May 2018: ‘A 10-year-old girl was sexually abused inside a cinema theatre in Malappuram district by a 60-year-old male, even as the girls’ mother sat next to him with alleged full knowledge of the heinous crime being committed. The incident was caught on CCTV cameras (Jobin par. 15). She is a nursing professor at the Chettinad College of Nursing. She wants to offer solutions to child sex abuse and prevent it from ever happening to any other child. As a child, Jobin had firsthand experience with rape. In her article, she exclaimed, “I am very scared to get into the school bus. I hate him. If my parents came to pick me up on time from school after annual day function in the night, it wouldn’t happen to me” (Jobin par. 3). This quote from the author's own experience said it all. There is no place safe enough for kids indoors, nor outdoors. Children that have gone through such an event like that of rape or even worse, one committed by a relative or parent, there is a higher chance of suicidal tendencies and criminal activities. Therefore, a solution for this unprecedented epidemic must be found for the safety of the future of humanity, or else we the human race will remain to stagnate in our development and increase the risk of death caused by our own hands.  

This study on “Sexual Assault Perpetrators’ Justifications for Their Actions: Relationships to Rape Supportive Attitudes, Incident Characteristics, and Future Perpetration, ” examined the relationships between rape supportive attitudes, sexual assault incident characteristics, and the post-assault justifications of 183 men sampled from the community who self-reported committing at least one act of sexual aggression. For instance, research has consistently shown a positive relationship between rape-supportive attitudes and sexual assault perpetration. Although everyone has the right to say no to sexual activity at any time, regardless of any past history of sexual relations or sexual activity earlier in the interaction, many common rape supportive attitudes are likely to be activated in these situations. Men who more strongly endorse the belief that women's drinking is a cue for their sexual interest are also more likely to endorse rape supportive attitudes, apperceive women's sexual intent, and perpetrate an alcohol-involved sexual assault. Sexual assault incident characteristics accounted for an additional 22% of the variance in post-assault justifications, above and beyond the 17% accounted for by rape-supportive attitudes. The Ministry of Women and Child Development releases the results of a national level survey of NCPCR in 2017, in which 53% of the children revealed that they had been subjected to sex abuse and were unreported (Wegner 2). Future research should consider rape supportive attitudes as a potential mediator of the relationship between post-assault justifications and future sexual assault perpetration, utilizing a longitudinal design.

I met up with my cousin Lily during her lunch break. We met up at a Korean BBQ restaurant in San Diego. Lily currently resides in San Diego. She works as a senior caretaker. As I was seated on the other side of the table, I saw how tired she was. She informs me that her current career does that give her the feeling that she is making any difference in the world. As we were talking about her experience that caused her change of outlook in life. Lily explained she was surprised of how cruel this world is, “Why do innocent kids have to face this kind of punishment, and if so is there no god or at least karma in the world that can smite the villains that do these acts of atrocities?”

            When Lily had her stroke when the court proceedings were still going on. She felt happy that no can bother her when is recuperating. It was a sense of relief. A relief that she didn’t need to worry about the court, and everything that was worrying her at the moment. However, as of now Lily just cannot break the chains of the past that are still haunting her. As she was tearing she informed, “I wanted to be a social caseworker for children that faced similar circumstances that happened to me, but I just could not face their stories. I couldn’t face the pressure, drama, or sadness.” As she was tearing I understood she is still living in the past, and not progressing in life. She was as stagnant in the haunting of her own self.

I can see she had regrets and sadness in her eyes about the formal court proceedings. Everything changed back then for her, for me, and basically, everyone that was involved in the court proceedings. As if it just yesterday Lily and I remembered how everyone from the family was forcing all the child victims to change their original statements, and why the change in their statements was because the perpetrator was an uncle in the family. Lily exclaimed, “My biggest regret back then in the court proceedings was being forced by my mother that was supposed to protect and care for me to lie in court. I am sorry Peter, I didn’t want my mother to hate me.”

As she was silently sobbing, I knew it was bad of me for holding a grudge against her. I now understood back then, she had no choice and no support to hold her together. “After everything from the court, I am still lost. I don’t know what to do.” Lily explains,” I thought I was fine that I wasn’t still traumatized, but I still am.” She looked lost still in that of the past, and I do not know what to say, nor do to relieve her of her burdens.

The only thing I can do is tell her at that moment was to find a therapist and conquer her past and current fears. I informed Lily, “Yes, the world is shit, but you cannot let it drag you down. You have to face it, and remind yourself that you can succeed if you put and mind and determination into it. A failure is never an option, but just an obstacle to overcome!!!”

The article "Why Have I Been Touched Badly? A 22 years Follow-Up Research Study on Factors Influencing Child Sex Abuse and Solutions to Stop It, " describes the incidence of child sex abuse has become an unresolved issue and how it is increasing dramatically nowadays. Author Jobin Ponnambily has identified 6 phases of child sex abuse: observation phase, introduction phase, Samaritan phase, isolation phase, execution phase and termination phase.  The author has conducted a 22-years prospective and inquisitive search to explore the factors influencing the sex abuse from offender’s and victim/target’s point of view and to find a solution to eradicate this crime towards children. The existing body of literature regarding this issue is very limited. Children are the treasure and the future of humanity, so why must they suffer from the disgusting filth that wants to destroy them. There must be a way to prevent that and keep the children of the future safe. Ponnambily believes that there is a way to dissolve this kind of crime done to children. While somehow there are not that many research or literature was done on this kind of crime. Ponnambily has found 6 phases of child sex abuse to figure out if a child has been abused. I suppose the world is too corrupt, and most people fear standing up for being noticed and slandered by the public to actually do a thing in this modern society. As for Ponnambily, she is actually trying to make a change in this society that denies that of child rape/ sexual abuse in the family. The world has to change if the human race wants to keep advancing and stagnating.

“I am very scared to get into the school bus. I hate him. If my parents came to pick me up on time from school after annual day function in the night, it wouldn’t happen to me”. This quote from the author's own experience said it all. There is no place safe enough for kids indoors nor outdoors. A solution for this unprecedented epidemic must be found for the safety of the future of mankind. If a child was raped they would be traumatized by this to the point they would commit suicide, or the possibility of becoming a rapist in the future is also possible. That is why there should be countermeasures to protect the future of mankind now, and not when it is too late. In the US we should clearly create a mandatory mental evaluation act so that every citizen in the country Legal and illegal citizens can be evaluated. This would help in collecting the data/story of suffers from sexual abuse to rape and many more. This would instill that victims found from the mental evaluation have an outlet so that they can have a safe mind to recover from their trauma.

Works Cited

“Child Sexual Abuse Statistics.” Child Sexual Abuse Statistics, National Center for Victims      of Crime, victimsofcrime.org/media/reporting-on-child-sexual-abuse/child-sexual-abuse-statistics.

Jobin, Ponnambily. “Why Have I Been Touched Badly? A 22 Years Follow-up Research              Study on Factors Influencing Child Sex Abuse and Solutions to Stop It.” Asian Journal of Nursing Education and Research, vol. 9, no. 1, 1 Jan. 2019, p. 9., doi:10.5958/2349-2996.2019.00003.x.

Northridge, Jennifer L. “Sexual Violence in Adolescents.” Pediatric Annals, vol. 48, no. 2, 1 Feb. 2019, doi:10.3928/19382359-20190118-01.

Sarkar, Jaydip. “Mental Health Assessment of Rape Offenders.” Indian Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 55, no. 3, 1 July 2013, p. 235., doi:10.4103/0019-5545.117137.

Shinde, Ramesh Murlidhar, and Vaishali Tendolkar. “Child Sexual Abuse: Is It an Ordinary Problem in the Society?” Asian Journal of Nursing Education and Research, vol. 9, no. 1, 3 Jan. 2019, p. 27., doi:10.5958/2349-2996.2019.00006.5.

Wegner, Rhiana, et al. “Sexual Assault Perpetrators’ Justifications for Their Actions.” Violence Against Women, vol. 21, no. 8, 8 Aug. 2015, pp. 1018–1037., doi:10.1177/1077801215589380.