The following thoughts are a culmination of ideas that have been swirling in my mind as of late, prompted by a variety of events, including things that have been posted recently on Facebook and blogs that I follow. I feel lucky to say that none of these thoughts on abuse are directly related to me, really, although I have to admit that my thoughts on this topic are loosely informed by my own experiences working with a difficult student.
There are a lot of ways that people define abuse - physical, emotional, even spiritual. I think that everyone has a personal definition for abuse and a personal threshold for how much abuse they can handle. Whenever someone genuinely feels like they are being abused, I don't feel like outsiders should question the nature of the abuse or argue that the offensive actions aren't significant enough to constitute abuse. Really, we can only define what constitutes intolerable abuse for ourselves. As a result, I think that we (i.e. outsiders) should do everything possible to help that person who feels abused, even if our personal definition for abuse may differ.
Speaking of abuse, I am touched by Patrick Stewart's discussion of violence toward women, which my friend posted on Facebook a few days ago. I'm touched that Stewart's activism is prompted by his personal experiences; since he couldn't help his mother get out of abusive situations as a young boy, Stewart feels like he can help his mother now, in a symbolic sense, by speaking out against violence toward women.
Although I don't think that I will ever be in a situation with spousal abuse (J is probably the least violent person that I know), I have sympathy and concern for women who are in that situation. And my thoughts are extended to children who are abused as well. The recent news posts showing the earliest historical example of child abuse (found in an Egyptian cemetery), just make me heartsick. I don't even want to post a link to that article - you'll have to look it up yourself if you want to feel depressed.
So let's not only stop the cycle of abuse, people, but let's be as supportive of victims of abuse as we possibly can.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
I saw that Patrick Stewart video a few days ago, too. It made me cry at work. I was encouraged by his passion and dedication to the problem. NPR did a series on human trafficking this week, and it just made me heartsick. No one deserves abuse in any form
Agreed. This is such an important issue.
Post a Comment