HJAR Nov/Dec 2024

As a victim of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of a well- respected, much older, now dead relative, I realized preparing for this Journal topic … I am far from alone. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says at least 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 20 boys in the U.S. experience child sexual abuse. About 90% of us were molested by someone we knew and trusted or a family member. I found it interesting to learn that most child molesters are not pedophiles. Pedophiles constitute a minority of those who sexually abuse children or who are child molesters. The vast majority of us were abused by a sexually frustrated male, and we were accessible, easy prey. 1 I understand there have since been some efforts in prevention education like the 23 centers in Arkansas who are teaching children the Monique Burr Foundation’s MBF method: to understand some parts are private, to tell a safe person if they feel they have been violated, and to not feel shame. I was not taught this. My parents had no idea this could happen to their daughter. I think they wanted to keep their children as innocent as they could for as long as they could. We all do. But these conversations need to happen more, because that 1 in 4 number is an abomination. To be very clear, though, a child telling when it happens does not prevent the abuse—molesters havebeengetting awaywithgrooming and preying on children for millennia. This vile and unspoken scourge is rarely addressed in a public setting, but this August, Louisiana made worldwide news by taking, what many believe, to be the first real step in making a sexually frustrated individual think twice before taking the innocence of a child under 13 — surgical castration. By surgically removing the testicles of the convicted, at minimum, testosterone will be stopped from flowing through a perpetrator’s body, reducing their chance of abusing again, which is a real issue as recidivism is high for this crime. When I read of the castration law, I wanted to meet the lawmaker with the cojones and ability to be the first in the country to get this both prevention and deterrent enacted, Louisiana State Senator Regina Barrow, because I do believe the threat of castration is the most powerful weapon known to stop a sexually frustrated man from abusing an available child. As Barrow, president of the Louisiana senate, who may be all of 5 feet tall in heels, and I sat down in her capitol building office, I handed her two congratulatory cigars — one as a trophy from me, and the second as a trophy from all childhood sexual abuse victims — for having the heart and balls (forgive me, I couldn’t help myself) to get this legislation done. 1 Tourjée, D. “Most Child Sex Abusers Are Not Pedophiles, Expert Says.” Vice, April 4, 2016. https://www.vice.com/en/article/most-child-sex-abusers-are-not-pedophiles-expert-says/ HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  NOV / DEC 2024 19