So, for the past month we have been hearing about sexual harassments and sexual assaults.  That is, the ones that have happened involving famous people.

There are so many more that we will never hear about.  What about the lady down the street?  Will we ever hear her story of harassment or assault?  Only if she tells us.  Otherwise, the lady next door's story will never be told to a public audience.

The statistic is that one in three women will experience abuse, sexual assault or molestation in their lifetime.

Why don't we hear about these?  Because the perpetrators have the power.  They are usually men who think of their victims as their property, to do with as they please.

The only way that this atrocity will stop is if victims, I call them survivors, speak up, and are believed.

Listening to the court of public opinion, a lot of victims are NOT believed, or they are blamed in some way for what happened to them.

The facts are, there is NO excuse!  Another person is NOT your property, no matter what influence you think you have over them.  It's not o.k. to treat people like something you own.

There are always two sides to a story, and the stories coming out now are like a giant storm hitting our nation.  The survivors are uniting and telling their stories.  The #metoo went around the world like wildfire!  I even added some of my stories to it.

No matter what your position is, your race, your problems, a lack of respect for another person is part of the problem.  You are not better than anyone else.  Your victim is going to raise their head one day, and speak up.  And, if they don't want to name you, as a lot of us don't want to give the public the name of our abusers, they will tell the story of what happened to them, and someone, somewhere, will put two and two together, and figure it out!

You will pay some day, in one way or another.  You may face charges.  You may slide for a long time.

But, love doesn't do these things.  If the world would open it's eyes and realize that it is possible for us to love each other and protect each other, there is nothing that could stop us!  But, unfortunately, humankind hasn't gotten there yet, and tears are all too common.  People want to be loved, not abused, harassed or assaulted.  We want to be danced and romanced, not groped in a dark corner.  The most beautiful person in the world, can be a monster on the inside.  Human beings are not a thing that you can do anything you want to with.  Love needs to become in vogue again.  We are our brother and sister's keepers!  What comes around, goes around, don't forget!  Whether you believe in Divine Justice, or Karma, what you do, will come back on you.

I personally am tired of sick people being given a pass by others, simply because they are under them some how, or are their friend and don't want to tell on them, or don't want to be the one who makes waves.

I am a survivor of abuse, assault and molestation.  Who spoke up for me?  No one.  And, that's the problem!  If someone would have listened, if someone would have believed, if no one would have swept it under the rug, or pretended it never happened, it wouldn't have taken me decades of work to undo what had been done to me; and that's what a survivor has to look forward to, decades of mental and emotional work to undo what was done to them.

Speak up, speak out.  Let's end this scourge on our society.

Thank you!

Rev. Angelia Schwarz Coleman, PhD
Minister Works of Heart
Executive Director Healing Families' Lives, Inc.
502-363-3427
wohwomensministry@gmail.com
healingfamilieslives@gmail.com
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