I'm going to warn you now. The subject matter of this column is disturbing, and some of the details are deeply troubling.
I also want to preface this by saying I have zero tolerance for sexual crimes against men, women and children. Zero.
There is no excuse, explanation, justification nor tolerance, or forgiveness that can ever be extended to the perpetrators of sexual crimes.
Unfortunately, the pervasiveness of these most heinous crimes is one of the darkest stains in our community and society.
I would wager that you know of someone who has suffered.
You may have someone in your family who has suffered.
You may have suffered. And continue to do so.
A most disconcerting aspect to sexual crimes and their commission are the excuses and rationalizations made over generations to where denial gets factored over justice. There's a fatalism to it, as if nothing could be done.
Consider these scenarios:
- "I was raised that boys being mean or picking on you means they liked you."
- "History teacher would touch himself in the middle of class in high school."
- "Our math teacher married a senior."
- "Groped continuously tops and bottoms when we went dancing."
- "Drugged at a concert. Raped."
- "Friends were drugged at another bar."
- "Lifelong friend molested me when we went out with my current boyfriend."
- Victim blaming, what you wore, how you walked or acted, how you turned away from your drink for a second.
Yep. I've lost count of how many friends have disclosed being molested, groped, or outright raped. A lot of it was perpetrated by family members. Brother, dad, cousin, uncle, etc. And it's truly alarming how often the victims would continue to be left alone with the perpetrator after people were made aware of what happened.
Sadly, this is only a scratch on the surface of the grim reality.
We are told if you see something, say something. This adage is a very difficult fit with the layers of complexity in sexual assaults. Often the attack is so personal. There is a greater likelihood the victim will know his or her attacker and chances increase it is someone in their own circle of family or friends.
If this is the case, then the most important question becomes ... why?
Why do these crimes go unreported? Why do families protect those that violate their own? How do relatives and even parents traffic their keiki in the sex trade?
What is wrong with them?
If you are privy to or participating in the ongoing and relentless abuses of others, especially innocent children, I hope you know you're going directly to Hell, because that's where you're sending these victims by your actions and even inactions.
There is a recent story here at home that is deeply saddening yet incredibly infuriating.
The Hawai‘i State Supreme Court has rendered a decision in regard to a horrific sexual assault case dating back 15 years.
The court found the State Department of Education allowed the repeated rape and sexual violations of a female student at McKinley High School, who was known to be intellectually disabled with an IQ of 40 and the mind of a 5-year-old.
This young girl was placed in the general education population with virtually no supervision. Again, a teenaged girl with the mental capacity of a kindergartener.
The predators lurked and then struck.
Once the initial attacks took place, additional violators took their turns.
The assaults would continue for three years.
That's 36 months.
That's 1,080 days of living in a Hell that should be reserved for the perpetrators and DOE staff that knew and allowed the defiling and abuses to continue.
In finding the DOE responsible for what is an absolute egregious facilitation of the most brutal of crimes that can be committed against a child the court awarded more than $14 million to the now 32-year-old victim.
She will require therapy and specialized treatment for the rest of her life.
If you are in need of assistance or advocacy as a victim of sexual assault, please contact The Sex Abuse Treatment Center at 808-524-7273 (24-hour hotline).
If you are aware of sexual abuse being perpetrated against anyone you know or love, please, don't hesitate to call the Honolulu Police Department. Dial 911.
It's one thing to see something, say something.
It's another to know something, do something.
Rick Hamada can be reached at rickhamada@aol.com.
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