Angel-Grace, Her Story Continued
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restrictions)
By: Father Shay Cullen
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Launched in 2009 by Women's World Summit Foundation (WWSF), the YouthEngage campaign is an annual programme for action for young people around the world who pledge to prevent abuse and violence against children and adolescents. |
Last week, I told the story of Angel-Grace, a child first sexually abused several times by her step-father and lived for years in fear and terror, unable to tell anyone. Her own mother did not believe her and called her a liar. She was isolated, alone, abandoned and continued to be a sex object of that deviant step-father. When she was 11 years old, she ran away out onto the streets. That’s the way it is for millions of young children around the world and many live their entire lives in silence.
Boys too are abused and they feel their manhood has been violated and that they cannot be a normal person. Many are driven to live lonely lives and even to commit suicide. As many as four girls in ten and three boys in ten are victims of sexual abuse according to some experts who study statistics of reported cases. But a vast majority goes unreported.
When Angel-Grace ran to the street to escape and survive, she met many more children with similar backgrounds and hardships. Most were victims of sexual abuse, they shared their stories with each other. It was not long before a female pimp lured her with hamburgers and money into prostitution with local and foreign men and trained her to accept it as the only future.
She lost almost all self respect and considered herself worthless having been rejected by her own family, deprived of love to the point and could not trust or love any one even herself. Having been told by irresponsible parents that “she was good for nothing”, and would be better off she had never been born, Angel-Grace could really believe it. That self loathing made her morose and depressed.
Hundreds of thousands of children endure life in this way all over the world, no country is exempt or free from such crimes against children. Some are worst than others. But it’s a heinous crime and many who know of it cover it up in a conspiracy of lies and complicity, with consenting silence, with gross ignorance of the hurt, pain and despair felt by the child.
Any act of hurt and abuse against a child is a crime in any civilized county and is a serious crime that must and should be reported to the police and authorities. Any delay, compromise and turning the other way is morally unacceptable and just plain wrong and sinful.
This is why children like Angel-Grace and countless others are made the sex toys of the pedophiles and sex tourists because the leaders in society; politicians, prosecutors, church and community leaders and even police ignore the evil and prefer to turn the other way and worse, even attempt to cover it up. Some pretend they have never heard or known of it. They are perhaps people who go to church, pillars of society yet ignore the victims and think only of protecting themselves and their institutions.
Angel-grace was rescued by people who did care and was brought to the Preda Therapeutic Recovery home where she poured out all her pain, suffering and anguish. In the Emotional Expression therapy room, with the help and protection of the female therapists she screamed out her hatred and anger at her abusers, her parents and her elder brother whom we discovered had abused her too.
After a few months of regular sessions with support and counseling, she expelled all the fear, hatred and loathing for those abusers. That’s how we know how these child feel, that’s how we know the depth of suffering they carry and how hurt and angry they are toward who abused or enabled them to be abused and ignored they when they cried for help.
Her step-father is now charged with the help of the Preda legal team and faces a life sentence if convicted. Pursuing justice is a healing process too and then when that is accomplished there can be peace and forgiveness provided the accused will accept his crime, confess his sin and ask forgiveness. Until there is justice there can be no successful closure. Angel-Grace is back at school and finding a new life with greater peace of mind and spirit. (contact Fr. Shay, at Preda Center P.O. Box 68, Olongapo city, Philippines shaycullen@gmail.com)
