February 19 2018 – Click here to listen
Last week someone wrote and asked what he and his wife could do to fight child rape for profit. I admire them for asking. We are told not to just sit around shaking our heads and acknowledging the problem, but to act. 1 John 3:18 states: Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
I’ve studied this child rape problem extensively. First, I would say that the overwhelming majority of anti-sex trafficking organizations focus on victims and in getting them off the streets and into safe houses where they can be treated physically, mentally, and spiritually. There is an endless supply of children being exploited and there is a definite need for assisting them. If this appeals to you, then Google it, research it, and choose from among the many thousands of organizations that are advocates for victims.
Another area is federal law enforcement that concentrates primarily on arresting cartel and organized crime members who have shifted their criminal enterprises to targeting this profitable criminal endeavor. They are going after the people who are snatching our kids off the streets, relocating them, and selling them over and again to be raped, sodomized, and tortured. They are complemented by local law enforcement who primarily go after local pimps. Both require funding and local, state, and federal agencies get their funding from bureaucrats that are driven by voters. Vote, support, and contact your representatives to have an impact in this area.
Personally, I feel deep compassion for the boy and girl victims and want to help them, and of course I support reducing the supply via going after organized crime; however, I believe the key to solving this problem lies in going after the “demand,” the perpetrators, the grown men who are willing to pay big money to rape a young child. I have worked through the Jesus Alliance to identify 4 areas upon which we should focus to reduce demand:
Legislative/Policy – We need to strengthen laws substantially. Not that long ago the penalty for rape was death. I’m not advocating that, but I do think someone who rapes an innocent 3-year-old or even a 12-year-old should get a mandatory 25 to life sentence and registration as a sex offender for life. Harsh penalties would make all but the most perverted stop and think before having sex with a child. You can call your state and federal representatives and demand that stiffer laws be enacted. With a snarled up Congress this might be more effective at the state level.
Enforcement – Sadly, there are plenty of stringent laws already on the books. The problem is they are not rigidly enforced. Most perpetrators of this crime are powerful people such as doctors, attorneys, business leaders, judges, politicians, celebrities, religious leaders, law enforcement. Many are respected in their communities and because of their position and influence in society are served up lenient sentences. In fact, 26% get their cases dropped, 68% received suspended sentences and the average sentence is a mere 1 ½ years. (Statistics courtesy Shared Hope International). Public exposure of lenient sentences, plea bargains, and accommodating district attorneys and judges would be a deterrent. You could find local cases in your area and report them to local and national media services and post them online. Many judges are elected and those who let these perverts off should be drummed out of office. Those who commit these crimes should be humiliated in their communities. Trust me, if one of these perverts knew for certain that if caught he would face a severe sentence with no chance of plea bargains, or early parole, public humiliation, and lifetime registration as a sex offender, it would deter all but the most perverted.
Pornography – The leading cause of child rape is pornography. It begins with soft porn and when that won’t do it for them, leads to hard porn, and then to black web porn, where even infants are raped and sodomized and, in some cases, murdered on camera. 52% of people in the United States are watching porn. While not all will graduate into the more serious realm of acting out what they see, far too many do, and all of it provides money to those exploiting children (and by the way it is a black sin.) Many organizations are fighting porn. Google it, find one, and support them. Training films of how to break the addiction and avoid watching porn altogether are readily available for churches and other organizations. Obtain them, show them, and post them to social media.
Awareness – The more people know what is happening to our children, the easier it becomes to solve the problem. One mother who lost her son to a drunk driver began an organization, M.A.D.D., Mothers Against Drunk Driving. When a horde of enraged mothers descended on Washington D.C. mad as hornets, this problem got the attention it deserved and as a result millions of people have been saved due to better laws, enforcement, and awareness. You can share videos and “like” on Facebook the Jesus Alliance and other organizations that are focusing on raising awareness of this issue.
Our children are our future. What does it say about a society that doesn’t protect its children? No sin on the face of the earth equals the sin of child rape. If you want to help you can. Yes, unfortunately there is no way around the fact that it will take a little effort on your part but look at your kids and grandkids and ask yourself, if it were your child being raped, sodomized, and tortured twenty or thirty times a day, whether you would be motivated to act.
If you don’t have the time or are unwilling, yet still want to help, then donate money. I don’t know of a single organization fighting this epidemic that isn’t underfunded. The perpetrators, pornography industry, and criminal organizations are flush with cash. Isn’t that how Satan maintains his grip on this world?
James 1:23
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.