Thursday, November 3, 2011

House panel hearing explores U.S. government contractors’ exploitation of workers overseas


By Olivia LaRosa
Those government entitlements corporations receive, called contracts by some, result in the enslavement of human beings and have for decades.  Yea verily even for centuries.

Congress is taking note.  I bet they will order a "study" then develop yet another toothless enforcement mechanism that will co-opt the the opposition of the left once more. Seems like the more often you tell people that you are going to do something about the say, the red-eared turtle problem, the more likely they are to forget about whatever was troubling them.

One recent stomach-turning example by a third-striker, DynCorp, here:

Wikileaks Reveals U.S. Tax Dollars Fund Child Sex Slavery in Afghanistan


I have often asked this question of my right-wing acquaintances:

"Why aren't your organizations involved in child-abuse prevention?"  Invariably, my answer is a blank stare from the questioned. 

My intuition, experience, and education tells me that the institutional instinct to shelter, or fail to report abusers, is related to the maintenance of patriarchy.  Today, the papers ran a feature story about a man who had been victimizing Boy Scouts since 1970.  He was occasionally impeded in his rampage, but never for long. Everyone knows about the system-wide institutional cover-up of abuse in the Catholic Church, and many other organizations, too numerous to list here.

The Left's Interest in this Issue

At least 1/3 of women have been sexually abused at some point in their lives.  Child abuse frequently continues for years, while the child feels increasingly alienated, abandoned, and fearful of the world. Most sexual abusers are men, 95% to women's 5%.  The high percentage of men is accounted for not because 95% of men are abusers, but because the abuser is a repeat offender of the worst sort.  I have met thousands of men in the course of my 46-year course of parenthood, 15 years of work in a consumer branch bank, and seemingly endless quest for a BA.

Therefore I believe that most of the thousands of men I met were civilized, kind, and thoughtful.

The needless damage abusers cause our children and their families costs our society in a geometric progression from the relationship between the abused and the abuser, those who choose to face the horror, and those who choose to run and hide from the monstrous act. All too often, serial child abusers walk free every single day of their lives, because too many of us choose to run and hide when confronted with the evidence that their brother/son/uncle is a child molester.

Please allow me to share with you my first sexual victimization.  Why?  Because I emerged only slightly damaged by the experience. It occurred when I was five years old.  The neighbor boy around the corner, 15 years old, talked me into going into his garage.  After he released me and I walked back home, my grandmother glanced at me, then peered at me in alarm, and said, "Baby, what's wrong?" I told her what had happened to me. It was that way between us; I always told my grandma everything.

She said, "You don't worry about a thing.  You did not do anything wrong. You just get comfy and wait here for me.  I am going next door."

Victims seldom feel the relief of closure of their violation.  Reasons for this include:

1. denial of violation or knowledge thereof by child's primary caregiver (say, father is violator and mother is enabler here).

2. violator is a stranger; or unsought or unapprehended

3. violator is the breadwinner of the family and thus deemed immune from punishment for his heinous acts.

4. violator is a family member; reports to parents are not believed

5. violator threatens to harm or kill family members who try to intervene in the abuse

6. violator is a sibling

Closure for most of us would be to tell the violator how his violation of our personal space and physical body hurt us. Children are trusting by nature. Nothing harms a child more than violations of that trust.

Closure would also include the ability to be secure in the knowledge that the violator will be unable to commit further crimes. We are kids; we don't know how you adults punish people.  We figure that they have outgrown spankings, and imagination fails to think of anything more horrible than a spanking.

The shock of the violation often frightens victims into cages bounded by fear; friendship and love often seem far away. It is amazing that we master the ability to regain a healthy relationship with other humans.

Furthermore, parents of abused children feel hollowed out by the knowledge that the child they had protected and warned (about people who tried to touch you or give you food or get in their car) was so powerfully coerced by her abuser that she could not tell. These parents would have given anything to be able to share and ease the terrible burden borne by their child.




Counseling and psychotherapy will do wonders for all of the victims of sexual abuse.

Alas, too often they end up at the bottom of the heap because their emotional damage and the bodily memories of their suffering burden them with less effective functioning capabilities.


The WaPo article links follow:

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Web Page
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-panel-hearing-explores-us-government-contractors-exploitation-of-workers-overseas/2011/11/02/gIQAImMggM_story.html?wpisrc=nl_fedinsider

The Left's Interest in this Issue

At least 1/3 of women have been sexually abused at some point in their lives.  This abuse frequently continues for years, while the child feels increasingly alienated, abandoned, and fearful of the world. Most sexual abusers are men, 95% to women's 5%.  The high percentage is accounted for because the abuser is a repeat offender of the worst sort.  The needless damage to our children by abusers costs us all in the long run.  Few victims of abuse emerge with the ability to regain a healthy relationship with other humans.  Far too often they end up at the bottom of the heap because their emotional damage and the bodily memories of their suffering burden them with less effective functioning capabilities.

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