For those that have never heard or read Plato's Allegory of the Cave, we are going to summarize it here and tweak it a bit to apply it to the plight of many who struggle to educate society in the prevention child sexual abuse.
The Allegory of the Cave
Imagine there are prisoners shackled in a dark cave. They cannot turn their heads and are forced to look upon a wall. Behind them is a fire and there are people holding objects in front of the fire which cast shadows upon the wall. The people are also making sounds and talking, but the prisoners only hear the echos off the walls and believe these sounds are coming from the shadow shapes.
The prisoners see the shadows and hear these echos and assume they are reality- after all, it's all they're able to see.
One prisoner is removed from her shackles and forced into freedom. She realizes the shadows were not real, but merely a projection of an object. As she ascends into the light, it hurts her eyes, she's afraid and wants to go back into the dark cave, but she is dragged into the open light. The sun is so blinding, she can barely open her eyes. But in time, she adjusts and comes to realize that the objects she saw in the cave were only models of things that exist out of the cave.
She now realizes that what is seen in the light is real - and that the cave is truly a prison of the body and of the mind. She goes back in to try to save more prisoners, but many fight her off. Some follow and shirk back once exposed to the light, and the brave few enter the light and embrace the truth.
* * * * * * * * * *
Isn't this the mission to end child sexual abuse? How many people are prisoners to what they have been made to think - the 'echos' of 'stranger danger', TV reports that sensationalize abduction stories so much that many people don't even think to question that sexual abuse isn't mostly perpetrated by strangers. Every news story that covers a case of sexual abuse of a 'regular person' often follows with people who 'can't believe' it's true. People that look to create holes in the victim's story or that the child should share in the blame - "If she told someone, she could have stopped it." "What boy would say no to sex with his hot teacher?" etc. (Also kind of crazy that Plato's fire, model and shadow theory essentially describes how TV's really work).
The people that see the light and run back into the dark - those are the ones that may even know the truth because they've had a child disclose and refused to believe it, suspect something is going on and do nothing, or have been educated on the risks and prevention methods but just can't face the reality that someone they know, trust and probably love could commit such a heinous crime. They would rather live in the comfort of the dark than face the pain of the light - the truth.
The few - well, those are the ones trying to pull people out of the darkness of that cave and accept the reality that over 90% of sexual abuse is perpetrated by family, friends, and trusted authority figures. People will fight us off as we're trying to save them, people will run back in and prefer to live in the dark - but the ones that we can save from the ignorance, the denial - they will join us in the light and help us fight.
Abuse is rarely perpetrated in the light. Abusers choose darkness - the darkness of ignorance, blind trust, and willful denial. Less people living in the dark - the less opportunity for abusers to prey upon innocent children.
Choose the light.
The Allegory of the Cave
Imagine there are prisoners shackled in a dark cave. They cannot turn their heads and are forced to look upon a wall. Behind them is a fire and there are people holding objects in front of the fire which cast shadows upon the wall. The people are also making sounds and talking, but the prisoners only hear the echos off the walls and believe these sounds are coming from the shadow shapes.
The prisoners see the shadows and hear these echos and assume they are reality- after all, it's all they're able to see.
One prisoner is removed from her shackles and forced into freedom. She realizes the shadows were not real, but merely a projection of an object. As she ascends into the light, it hurts her eyes, she's afraid and wants to go back into the dark cave, but she is dragged into the open light. The sun is so blinding, she can barely open her eyes. But in time, she adjusts and comes to realize that the objects she saw in the cave were only models of things that exist out of the cave.
She now realizes that what is seen in the light is real - and that the cave is truly a prison of the body and of the mind. She goes back in to try to save more prisoners, but many fight her off. Some follow and shirk back once exposed to the light, and the brave few enter the light and embrace the truth.
* * * * * * * * * *
Isn't this the mission to end child sexual abuse? How many people are prisoners to what they have been made to think - the 'echos' of 'stranger danger', TV reports that sensationalize abduction stories so much that many people don't even think to question that sexual abuse isn't mostly perpetrated by strangers. Every news story that covers a case of sexual abuse of a 'regular person' often follows with people who 'can't believe' it's true. People that look to create holes in the victim's story or that the child should share in the blame - "If she told someone, she could have stopped it." "What boy would say no to sex with his hot teacher?" etc. (Also kind of crazy that Plato's fire, model and shadow theory essentially describes how TV's really work).
The people that see the light and run back into the dark - those are the ones that may even know the truth because they've had a child disclose and refused to believe it, suspect something is going on and do nothing, or have been educated on the risks and prevention methods but just can't face the reality that someone they know, trust and probably love could commit such a heinous crime. They would rather live in the comfort of the dark than face the pain of the light - the truth.
The few - well, those are the ones trying to pull people out of the darkness of that cave and accept the reality that over 90% of sexual abuse is perpetrated by family, friends, and trusted authority figures. People will fight us off as we're trying to save them, people will run back in and prefer to live in the dark - but the ones that we can save from the ignorance, the denial - they will join us in the light and help us fight.
Abuse is rarely perpetrated in the light. Abusers choose darkness - the darkness of ignorance, blind trust, and willful denial. Less people living in the dark - the less opportunity for abusers to prey upon innocent children.
Choose the light.
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