Silence The internal enemy is injustice, poverty and the silence of many

Silence. If I didn’t say anything else, we all know that the word silence has been used for generations to inflict power, subjugation, pain, submission, and tears. It has burned through the darkest corners of our minds, where our deepest secrets lie; the ones we’ve dragged through the mire and mire of adulthood and labeled with names of rejection, unworthiness, and lack of love. Why do we keep licking our ragged wounds and tending to them like a wounded pet whose eyes beg for sympathy? We continually surround ourselves with relatives, relationships and bosses, who perpetuate the same interpersonal relationship dynamics, feeding the same wound, which causes so much pain. We do this because it has become our comfort zone. It is when we learn new tools through counseling, self-help, support groups, God, books, art therapy, therapy, music, healthy boundaries, in our new jobs and our new relationships that we will grow and develop the skills we need. We must become a complete we, before joining to congratulate someone else. For future generations, at some point, we have to take responsibility for seeking the help we need to heal, so that we don’t repeat another multi-generational epidemic of sexual assault. The victims were chosen by their perpetrators, but now they have a lot of emotional damage to overcome.

So how did the sexual assault of children become such an acceptable occurrence in a prosperous and progressive culture, which draws on its deeply rooted traditions and legacies? Generations of families before us knew that sexual assault was a taboo subject. It was not reported because it was a family matter. The children felt they had no one to sue or nowhere to go. Rape and incest have thrived and flourished through bloodlines from the time children were born from one year to the next. I know that my abuser told me that he would kill me, my mother and the rest of my family if he told him; and I knew that he was very capable. I was eleven. I also knew that it ran in the family. My mother seemed to favor the attention of men, more than that of her children. I liked a lot of kids before me, I had nowhere to go and no one to tell.

We see today’s generation of women, from Olympic gymnasts and swimmers to actresses and actresses standing up boldly, speaking their truth, boldly, bravely, and sharing their pain. The pain shared by a multitude of women, boys and girls, who marched with them; that he had no voice. The voices of thousands of generations, who today struggle to have a voice! We are the voice of those whose pain was so great that they could no longer bear it. That they waited so long for someone to help them; to listen to them; to believe them. We are the battle cry behind their unheard voices; raising our voices in unison for them, shouting “NO MORE SILENCE!”

We stand together as a society today, so that the thought of the draconian age will disappear! We will all have to change; and it won’t be easy. It won’t be nice. It is vitally necessary that all survive; or we will be inundated through the courts and penal system with trials and prison for those who choose to continue committing these heinous crimes against women and children. We can get involved with our local sexual assault and human trafficking advocacy groups and mentor groups. We need to change the laws, CPS, criminal justice system, and mental health systems, to provide the quality resources survivors of sexual assault and trauma deserve. Today, we are the old generation and the new generation together! We are fighting the Last Great Frontier known as “Sexual Assault”! We will defend Silence No More! Together we can make our children’s future a great place to live! TOGETHER WE ARE!

Connie Lee: 02/08/2018