Remember those Public Service Announcements in the 80's and 90's? Some are hilarious to look back on now, but some left an impression on this little girl.
One in particular is quite memorable. A little girl is coming home from school, and her neighbor calls to her and invites her into his home. He sits her up on his kitchen counter, and proceeds to start unbuttoning her shirt. Freeze frame. What should she do?
Play. She pushes his hands away, and says, "NO! (or something to that effect)" She hops off the kitchen counter and runs off. The moral of the story: Don't go into your neighbors house by yourself because he could be a sex offender.
Often, people assume that a stranger will be the one to sexually attack someone. More often than not, however, it's someone the survivor and their family knows. Sometimes, it's someone so close that you can't easily get rid of them without setting a whole process into motion.
When I was younger and starting to look for jobs, my parents were very much against me trying to babysit strangers' children. You never know what kind of person they could be, my parents warned. At first it angered me. How else are you supposed to get any sort of experience if you don't go outside the protected family space? But I know that they just wanted to be careful. I know they just wanted to make sure I was safe. I don't blame them, nor am I angry at them. We all make assumptions, and when it's something or someone unknown we make the most assumptions.
Unfortunately, in my case, the wrong assumptions were made. No one is to blame except for the perpetrator, though - especially when they've managed to gain everyone's trust.
So, my PSA would go something like this:
Don't stop trusting, don't live in fear...but educate yourselves on the facts. More often than not, a sexual assault happens between people who know each other. That's the fact. Don't fear. Protect yourself with knowledge.
No comments:
Post a Comment