Childhood Sexual Abuse
CARY HOFFMAN & RAINN (Rape, Incest & Abuse National Network)
A thousand people in some crowd... many minds with many issues..
Who are the ones who've been sexually abused as children?
Can we tell? No one is raising their hand. Is there a sign?
I found out that my friend Bernie Travis was abused only because he told me.
I would never have guessed it.
Most adults aren't even completely aware that they were abused as children... some have spent a lifetime running from a nebulous dark something they can't describe…or are guilty of.
Only their current life sometimes offers a clue to the horrendous silent sexual imprisonment they suffered as children... a drug addict who begins every day with a needle.... a fearful woman who can't trust anyone... a guy who's sadness never goes away... a woman who has never had a relationship believing that all men only want sex.... a smart college student who flunks out of his 3rd school.... an 18-year-old who uses a AR-15 to kill school children... and maybe a comic who commits suicide like my friend Bernie did........ and yes a Catholic Priest who sexually abuses an altar boy (sexual abusers are more likely to have been sexually abused themselves)!
So how many of these have been sexually abused as children and handed a life sentence of doubt and misery... maybe all... maybe some... All we know for certain are the numbers.... EVERY 9 MINUTES A CHILD IS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED.. EVERY 9 MINUTES!
How do we begin to stop it....?
Only by talking about it... reading about it... hearing about it... thinking about it... seeing a movie or play about it... and accepting the truth of its pervasive existence today... or listening to six minutes of my avant pop opera "I'M KILLIN 'EM" about my friend Bernie's life after being sexually assaulted as a child, on Soundcloud.
RAINN (Rape,Incest & Abuse National Network) THE LARGEST ANTI-SEXUAL ASSAULT ORGANIZATION IN THE COUNTRY has sanctioned Cary Hoffman's opera " I'M KILLIN 'EM " to be used in their ongoing effort to raise money and educate the public and help stop childhood sexual abuse and to help it's survivors.
TO MAKE A DONATION TO RAINN DIRECTLY, GO TO donate.rainn.org
AND IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW HAS BEEN AFFECTED BY SEXUAL VIOLENCE, THE NATIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT HOTLINE IS AVAILABLE 24/7 WITH FREE SUPPORT IN ENGLISH OR SPANISH AT 1800656 HOPE(4673) AND RAINN.ORG.
MAYBE WE CAN MAKE CERTAIN THAT THERE ARE NO MORE BERNIES.
Who are the ones who've been sexually abused as children?
Can we tell? No one is raising their hand. Is there a sign?
I found out that my friend Bernie Travis was abused only because he told me.
I would never have guessed it.
Most adults aren't even completely aware that they were abused as children... some have spent a lifetime running from a nebulous dark something they can't describe…or are guilty of.
Only their current life sometimes offers a clue to the horrendous silent sexual imprisonment they suffered as children... a drug addict who begins every day with a needle.... a fearful woman who can't trust anyone... a guy who's sadness never goes away... a woman who has never had a relationship believing that all men only want sex.... a smart college student who flunks out of his 3rd school.... an 18-year-old who uses a AR-15 to kill school children... and maybe a comic who commits suicide like my friend Bernie did........ and yes a Catholic Priest who sexually abuses an altar boy (sexual abusers are more likely to have been sexually abused themselves)!
So how many of these have been sexually abused as children and handed a life sentence of doubt and misery... maybe all... maybe some... All we know for certain are the numbers.... EVERY 9 MINUTES A CHILD IS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED.. EVERY 9 MINUTES!
How do we begin to stop it....?
Only by talking about it... reading about it... hearing about it... thinking about it... seeing a movie or play about it... and accepting the truth of its pervasive existence today... or listening to six minutes of my avant pop opera "I'M KILLIN 'EM" about my friend Bernie's life after being sexually assaulted as a child, on Soundcloud.
RAINN (Rape,Incest & Abuse National Network) THE LARGEST ANTI-SEXUAL ASSAULT ORGANIZATION IN THE COUNTRY has sanctioned Cary Hoffman's opera " I'M KILLIN 'EM " to be used in their ongoing effort to raise money and educate the public and help stop childhood sexual abuse and to help it's survivors.
TO MAKE A DONATION TO RAINN DIRECTLY, GO TO donate.rainn.org
AND IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW HAS BEEN AFFECTED BY SEXUAL VIOLENCE, THE NATIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT HOTLINE IS AVAILABLE 24/7 WITH FREE SUPPORT IN ENGLISH OR SPANISH AT 1800656 HOPE(4673) AND RAINN.ORG.
MAYBE WE CAN MAKE CERTAIN THAT THERE ARE NO MORE BERNIES.
Sexual abuse statistics
Every 9 minutes a child is sexually abused
Survivors of childhood sexual abuse are 10 to 13 times more likely to attempt suicide
70 percent of child sexual abuse victims have either thoughts of suicide or actually attempt suicide as adults.
34 percent of child abuse victims are perpetrated by a family member
1 in 5 Boys are sexually abused before the age of 18
38 percent of all sexual abuse is never reported.
Child sexual abuse victims have a 42 percent increased chance of suicidal thoughts during adolescence
500,000 children are sexually assaulted in the U.S. every year