Recognizing Abuse

Recognizing Abuse
Alice Smith

It’s difficult to believe that anyone will live their entire life and not suffer mistreatment at some point. We are not alone when it comes to struggles. But what we do with our hurts affects our ultimate physical and spiritual health.

Everyone hits bumps in the road of life from time to time, but a person with a victim mentality will hit them on a regular basis. They may chalk it up to "bad luck" but there is often more to it than that. Because of the repetitive cycles of abuse the victim begins to assume abuse is normal, and will in time even attempt to justify and protect the abusers.

Perhaps the saddest victims are the innocent infants, toddlers, and young children? In the year 2004, for instance, 879,000 children in the U.S. were victims of child mistreatment. The mistreatment was the result of --

· Neglect ~ 63%

· Physical ~ 19%

· Sexual ~ 10%
· Psychological ~ 8%

Victimization rates decline as a child's age increases. Except for victims of sexual abuse, rates were similar for male and female victimization. The rate of sexual abuse of girls was almost four times that of boys, however boys (and men) often decline to tell others of their abuse. Source: US Dept of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect, 2000.

Did you know that between 30 and 40 percent of all reported incest cases involve an alcoholic parent? Source: CASA Survey of Child Welfare Professionals 1997-1998 Almost daily we see on television or read in the newspaper about children who’ve suffered the vilest mistreatment. The abuser is typically someone who had been charged with caring for the child. Others are exploited as teenagers and young adults. Did you know that in the United States, a rape is reported about once every five minutes. FBI Uniform Crime Report

Still rape is called "the most underreported violent crime in America." In a large national survey of American women, only 16% of the rapes (approximately one out of every six) had ever been reported to the police. Rape in America: A Report to the Nation, National Victim Center, 1992

In a study conducted by the Department of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers interviewed 8,000 women and 8,000 men and found that 1 in 6 women had experienced an attempted rape or a completed rape.

At the time they were raped:

· 22% were under the age of twelve

· 54% were under the age of eighteen
· 83% were under the age of twenty-five
Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women, Department of Justice, 2006

In the Rape in America study, 60% of the women who reported being raped were under 18 years old:29.3% were less than 11 years old; 32.3% were between 11 and 17; 22.2% were between 18 and 24; 7.1% were between 25 and 29; 6.1% were older than 29; 3.0% age was not available. Rape in America: A Report to the Nation, National Victim Center, 1992

Date rape is pandemic on America's college campuses. In the Rape in America study, 80% of the girls and women who were raped were victimized by someone they knew. Rape in America: A Report to the Nation National Victim Center, 2000

Sexual abuse isn't the only subject I will be talking about at the FREEDOM conference. There is also domestic violence, greed, dishonor, betrayal, abandonment, poverty, stalking and many other forms of abusive victimization. Once the door has been opened in our lives through a traumatic experience, how do we diagnose what is happening? Come and learn how a life-altering experience can impact your life of victory with Christ. Let our ministry team help you slam the door of your yesterdays, and begin to walk with a new victory in Christ today.