"Sex crimes are down from 2008." This is a rallying cry that politicians have used to justify their existence and support of stringent sex-offender laws. However, this is misleading or even untrue. For while a certain class of sex crime is down, Stephen Lightfoot, Executive Director of Justice for Children, a national organization that advocates for victims of child sexual abuse, refutes lawmakers’ claims on 4/10/11 when he states that the sexual abuse of children is not on the decline, in fact it is on the rise. Giving truth to the idea that current sex-offender laws do not and have not stopped our children from being abused.
Rational thought would say that prevention is preferable to dealing with the aftermath. So then, we ask ourselves, what will it take? Is harsher, more several law the answer? Will that prevent my child from being a victim?
I have said before that education is the key. We must bring this out into the open so there is nowhere to hide and make the desire for treatment a better option because there is no hiding. Because believe me, the fact that this type of crime is so unutterable, and that we only talk about it when we have to is a type of enabler. Once we are able, as a society, to discuss this rationally with an adequate knowledge of the subject, then we can work on stopping it. I KNOW this to be true. But we cannot do it on our own. We, as an offender, a victim, and society are not strong enough to obtain this knowledge on our own. Most of the time, the idea to obtain this knowledge does not even enter our minds until we need it, and then it is too late.
To that end, it is up to our lawmakers to make that education mandatory. This is how I have used my time, to develop the first law making education about sex crimes mandatory. Should lawmakers implement this law and develop others like it, I am confident that there will be a reduction in the sexual abuse of our children.
I am in the process of sending this proposal to state and federal lawmakers. (Please contact me, if you are interested in receiving information about my proposal.)
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