Race, Class, Gender, Child Abuse

Human animals...have tolerated—even tacitly condoned—
the nonprotector and the predator,
leading to an escalation of the rape, murder and torture of our children.
Rather than making their survival, and the survival of our species,
an unquestioned priority,
we watch indifferently while the evolution of cruelty continues.
Much of it comes from the individual family itself;
all of it from the human family as a whole.
Andrew Vachss

Can't help wondering... how we move beyond the myths that race, class and gender account for "sexualized violence" without consideration of the deeper roots of violence in human societies.

I was wondering about this in a comment to Blogger: Diary of an Anxious Black Woman this morning. I was responding to a super posting she made on the subject of violence.

And then, still wondering, searching, searching, searching the net later...

What I found most easily and often is reiteration that violence and child abuse do go beyond race, class, gender and other common reasons as in:

• Domestic Violence and Child Abuse: Who uses violence in relationships?


• Generation5: Ending Child Sexual Abuse in 5 Generations


• Parenting Advice: What to do if a neighbor or child's friend is a victim of child abuse
  

But nothing substantive.

And then, about to give up and move on to other things for the day, I found:

DMOZ Open Directory Project – and WOW! I could be lost there a long, long time!

But then I found:
Our Endangered Species: A Hard Look at How We Treat Children by Andrew Vachss
and reluctantly pulled myself away to take time and share these with you.

While I'm into sharing, let me share this, too. When I was a child, abused and neglected, one source of hope along with escape for the moment, safety, warmth and shelter came in going into the public library and staying til it closed. I dreamed of someday reading all the books I found there...even the ones I passed on the way to the children's book room! I was too young and inexperienced to know that the number of books in that little small town library didn't make a ripple in the sea of books available.

When I discovered that, I was more than a little dismayed to realize that not only couldn't I read all the books written to date, more were being published everyday. Later, I used to watch Star Trek a lot and always found myself jealous over the gadget like a helmet that one put on and had knowledge "downloaded" directly into one's brain. And little did I realize that the "net" would exponentially expand access to the written word beyond anything one person could even scan let alone read. I am both grateful for the wealth of information available and greener than ever with jealousy that I can't read it all...make it mine forever. Oh well...

Take care...be aware,

Nancy Lee