[aishah]

i'm with the_lady_snow, re the lack of value placed on children.

what really kills me about this topic, aside from the fact that i have a hard time not relating personally to stories of abuse, is the lack of value we place on children. and i think the fact that we place more value on some children than others is a huge problem. and that, for example, older children are frequently blamed for abuse (not that younger children aren't too but the newspapers are more likely to treat an older child, especially a child of color, as a grown woman who brought it on herself rather than a white child or a younger child, if that makes any sense). as a disabled native woman and a survivor, the fact that some communities, like indigenous and disabled women and children, have horrendously high rates of victimization due to sexual violence. in both cases with a higher likelihood of getting victimized by white and able-bodied folks - so it's not like it's a 'reservation problem' or something like that. the fact that no one talks about it really frustrates me. it feels like certain populations are just invisible and no one cares when it comes to sexual violence and child abuse.

generally speaking, even outside of sexual violence, children aren't really seen as fully human or deserving of full rights as adults are. i think that has a lot to do with how horribly sexual violence against children is handled. and when it happens within the family, a lot of courts and families are more concerned with forgiving the abuser, sweeping it under the rug, and making things go back to normal.