Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Speaking Out Edition of Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse

The Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse - April 2011 - Speaking Out Edition has been out a few days now.  I haven't gotten to spend much time reading it or had the time to write and post this article about it because of the storms that have been rolling through Arkansas since about 2:00 p.m. Monday.

At 10:00 p.m. Tuesday night, April 26, on Channel 7 News, Little Rock, Arkansas, Weather man Ned Perme said that there had been "over 100 tornado warnings for Arkansas in the past 40 hours."  Hot Springs, where I live got the last Severe Thunderstorm Warning at 10:00 - 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.  I am not sure when the last storm left the state today.  I think that just about as many people died from drowning in flash floods as they did in the tornadoes that touched down in the state.   Alabama seems to be getting the worst of the storms now.  I just heard on the news that Tuscaloosa, Alabama had a big tornado hit it today.  I am sending prayers to the people of Arkansas who have gone through the storms and prayers for protection for those people in other states who are going through them now or tomorrow.  These are scarey storms.  Thank you to all of the weather people who kept us aware of the storms as they came through.  I have lived in Arkansas for 24 years and I have never seen weather as bad as it was this week.  Thank God that the fatalities aren't any higher than they are.

Thank you to Tracie of From Tracie blog for being the hostess for this month's Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse - April 2011 - Speaking Out Edition.  The link for this carnival is as follows:

http://www.fromtracie.com/2011/04/speaking-out-against-child-abuse.html

Speaking out, breaking the silence of child abuse is such an important topic to me.  No one spoke out about my abuse from incest and my dad's alcoholism.  No one asked what was going on.   I couldn't tell.  I didn't feel that I had a voice as a child.  As a young adult, I didn't speak because for a long time, I hoped and prayed that if I ignored my abuse issues that they would go away.  That was my denial speaking.  Denial just allows more abuse to happen. 

Speaking out, telling our stories of healing and pain is the only way that we will be able to ever stop child abuse from happening to the future generations of our children.  When one of us speaks out, we give others permission to speak out and tell their stories.  We give each other courage to act.  Please join me in speaking out against child abuse. 
Patricia

6 comments:

Susan Komisar Hausman said...

Patricia,
Thank goodness for the strong, beautiful voice you have now. Keep on using it!
Susan

Patricia Singleton said...

Susan, Thank you. I appreciate the voice that you have given to all children with your book about teaching children that they have the right to say no to sexual abuse.

Tracie Nall said...

Thank you so so much, Patricia!

The weather situation is so bad. I'm praying for the people who have been affected as well.

Patricia Singleton said...

Tracie, you are very welcome. My prayers and Reiki are going out to all of the families affected by these horrible storms. As I said earlier on my Facebook page, these storms did what the others that we have experienced in Arkansas this year did. The storms got stronger and more in number after leaving Arkansas.

Thank you for adding your prayers to mine and all of the others that I know are being said for the survivors of these storms.

Matthew | Loving Awareness said...

You know, as much as it's good to say sexual abuse of kids is bad, it's really the subtleties which hit home. Most abusers would read things and justify their actions, saying that of course they're wonderful parents.

I say this because my mother would never think of herself as an abuser, or even someone with major issues. I was the "touchy" one, according to her, always "wanting" her as physically close as possible. I was also such a handful, which made it so hard for her and justified her actions. Things were so hard for her. So adept at justifications for violations, invasions, reinterpreting, diminishing, and mind-f*ck. And you know what? In this society, most people would rather believe her than me. That's the world we live in. We want clear cases and black and white. It's easier to disbelieve if there's doubt or confusion.

Patricia Singleton said...

Matthew, I am always glad to hear from you here on my blog. Yes, that is the world we live in. Speaking out, breaking the code of silence around child abuse is the best way that we can give others awareness that abuse is happening. Then we have a chance of changing the world.