INTRODUCTION
The increase of social injustice, evil being done to people, and media attention focused upon sexual abuse over recent years has opened the door of my heart to write this paper. Sexual abuse and rape crosses all boundaries whether racial, ethnic, economic, educational, or spiritual. Unlike other forms of abuse, the physical, emotional, and spiritual effects of sexual abuse often are not immediately evident and, therefore, may be downplayed or overlooked.
Hope For victims of Sexual Abuse, written by Harry Schaumburg and Robert McGee, defines sexual abuse as any sexual activity, either verbal or physical, engaged in without consent, which may be emotionally or physically harmful and which exploits a person in order to meet another person’s sexual or emotional needs. The person does not consent if he or she cannot reasonably choose to consent or refuse because of age, circumstances, level of understanding and dependency, or relationship to the offender.
Sexual abuse is a very sensitive and emotionally charged topic. Sexual abuse is a devastating violation of the victim’s body integrity. Facing the reality and details of abuse can be both shocking and devastating. Yet, avoiding the issue risks further injury from the devastating aftereffects of abuse. Sexual abuse can affect both children and adults. It encompasses a wide range of behavior, from fondling and exhibitionism to forcible rape and commercial exploitation through prostitution or pornography. Sexual abuse takes many forms and involves varying degrees of violence and emotional trauma.
Organizations, such as International Justice Mission, provide overwhelming stories of Nepalese innocent children who are trafficked to India and are sold as sex slaves and traded in major cities as well as gulf countries.
I know organizations in Kathmandu, Nepal, which are working actively to abolish this human sex slavery system. In fact, we also have women that were freed in our church back home in Nepal. I was overwhelmed hearing their stories and having the panic they felt described to me. My eyes filled with tears and I became agitated and felt towards the people who abused them. I found myself getting very angry seeing Indians and started to dislike Indians. But, I knew I needed to work to get justice for these women and not just sit by thinking about what had happened to them. I heard story after story about all these dear children—of how they were lured, fooled, and sold. Most of them were around the age of 10-16 years while they were trafficked. This is a long, yet a meaningful and emotional introduction that sets up the background for this graphic story in its tales of horror.