Violence
and Exploitation
"There is nothing that one man will not do to another. "- Caroline Forché
There seems no end to it - violence, exploitation, oppression,  domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, human trafficking, slavery, genocide, terrorism; the list is long, and the statistics are overwhelming. It touches everyone, and often the most powerless among us are also the most affected.
Depending on your definition of war, today there are between 15 and 50 of them being fought on the planet. (This does not include the numerous political and religious groups wrecking havoc with acts of terror around the world.) According to the UN, over fifty countries routinely recruit children under the age of 18 to be soldiers, and the estimated number of children, age 7 to 18, currently fighting in somebody's war is around 300,000.
In spite of some attempts to “civilize” these wars, the truth about them is ugly. According to Amnesty International, as many as 70% of war casualties are “non-combatants”, most of whom are women and children. These are not always “collateral damage” either. Rape and torture of civilians are routinely used as weapons of warfare.
Even in “peaceful nations” violence is ever- present. Ten to fifteen percent of all crime in the world is considered violent. The most commonly reported violent crime is rape, with 1 in 3 women, worldwide, experiencing some form of sexual assault in their lives. Furthermore, our own homes are the most dangerous places to be – the most likely person to assault you is a member of your immediate family. (These statistics usually don’t even include the most common household assaults, spanking.)
This is nothing new. For as long as we have kept track of such things, there have been wars and rumors of war. Brother against brother, nation against nation; it seems to stretch back to pre-history. If we look to our ape cousins as an example, perhaps such conflict is our hominid heritage. Maybe we are at heart, or in our genes, a violent species, and the best we can hope for is that reasonably benevolent forces win the wars and retain the power. Funny thing about power, though – when we use violence to get it, we will probably use violence to keep it.
There is, however, another evolutionary heritage. In becoming self aware, Homo sapiens, developed a desire for peace. This desire is present to some degree in everyone, and it has been as much a force in our history as violence. At times it has even been a revolutionary force. Consider Gandhi, who changed a nation without violence. We put our hope in that aspiration for peace.
There is a lot of talk these days about the green movement, and how we are quickly approaching a “tipping point” when the entire world will shift towards sustainable energy use. Hopefully this will happen in time to counteract the effects of all the carbon that has been dumped into our atmosphere. We believe that humanity must also make such a shift in our relationships with one another, a tipping point towards peace. Global warming will become a moot point in the face of nuclear winter.
Anyone who works with victims of violence learns that naming the experience is a crucial step in healing. They need to be able to stand up and say, “Yes, this happened to me. It was wrong, and it must not happen again.” Here at Good Intentions, we stand with those who have been abused, exploited, and oppressed. We want to tell their stories to the world, so that one day the people of world will finally stand up and say, “This has happened to us all. It is wrong, and it must not happen again.”
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