Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Have To Tell Someone

When I was in fifth grade, one of my best friends told me a secret. It was a secret that I knew that I couldn't keep to myself. Nanette told me that was being molested by her father. She told me that her dad was touching her. I didn't talk to my parents about it. I didn't tell anyone at first except my teacher. When I told Mrs. Ruff, I remember the look of horror on her face. She believed me and the school moved quickly. I often wonder what happened to her and how her life turned out. I do remember that her parents divorced. The secret stayed pretty much a secret and her life went on.

I had to tell someone. I feel the same way about an Oprah episode that I watched yesterday. Oprah is passionate about child predators. She is a survivor herself of a molester. On her show, she had brave young girls talk about what is what like to be sexually molested. They were so strong and brave as they shared their stories.

On the show, they also showed how molesters are creating information systems online to share with other molesters. One of the most horrific things is that molesters are teaching others how to molest children of all ages including a baby. Yes, a baby. The molesters are also creating Internet systems where they are raping children on live video on the Internet for their viewers. Imagine a sort of You Tube for molesters. It went on and on. I became more angry and sick as I watched.

So what can we do? The first thing they reminded viewers is that the people "on the Internet" are your neighbors, realtives, people at church, friends you see at soccer and people in your community. Molesters are everywhere. You have to second guess everyone around your children. Everyone.

Women all over the world are blogging. We are on the Internet too. We must rise up as mothers and protect our children. Demand that our senators protect our children. Help pass the the Protect Our Children Act called Senate Bill 1738. It is BIPARTISAN bill. How to do this? Visit Oprah's site. It will lead you to your senators. You can send a prepared email. You can write your own letter. You can send a letter. You can call. We have to move quick. Senate will be adjourning for the rest of the year in a couple of weeks. You must act quickly to send your message.

You have to do something just like I did for Nanette. Somewhere in your neighborhood tonight, a dad will walk down the hall with his video camera and do unspeakable things to his little girl. You have to tell someone. Tell Congress to fund this bill.

7 comments:

Someone Being Me said...

So true. We need to do something to protect kids. So many of these guys molest many, many children before they are stopped. It is sickening.

enthalpymama said...

You've hit a bit of a nerve, Indy. One of my friends had a similar experience. It was her uncle, but I believe her father knew. So scary.

Clare said...

Thank you Indy for sharing, I will definitely go on the site. I actually just got that sent to me the other day as well!

Hope you are well, and thanks for you kind words about Grammy. Last week was tough!

Anonymous said...

it happened to me in 2nd grade. a cousin who was 16 at the time did it. we were visiting them in TX for a whole week. Both families were under one roof and yet it continually happened. it would sometimes even happen under a blanket while everyone else was in the room. NO ONE HAD A CLUE! to this day, i've never told a soul in my family. my husband knows. it would literally kill my mother. i trust no one with my kids. NOT ONE SINGLE MALE. my mother told me that she and all of her sisters were molested by an uncle. i think statistics say that one in four girls are molested. SCARY!!! i will castrate someone if they ever come near my kids with those thoughts or actions.

Jessica said...

Oh goodness it is just awful. I will send an email of support right now and spread the word.

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

I get such a nasty feeling in my tummy just thinking about this.

I just emailed both Senators. Thanks for the info and the link.

Lindsay said...

Oh I was going to do a post on this (or at least mention Oprah's episode) this week sometime! I am so glad that she's brought up the subject...but I HATED the fact that she actually read, word for word, that booklet of "how to molest a child." It was disturbing!

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