Passive Ugliness

This week 3 girls who have been exploited will be in a safe haven for the first time in their lives. They are not much older than my daughter, who just turned nine.

Exploitation is ugly. Abuse is ugly. However, being passive is uglier. At what level is it our personal responsibility to take action against this underground slavery?

We hear all the time...1 in 3 girls are abused...1 in 5 boys are abused.

4 children will die within this minute due to abuse.Those could be my children.Those are the reported cases.Those do not include the millions of young children and adults presently being exploited.

That is ugly.

Do we sit in front of our screens, in our over sized chairs and silently scream: "That's terrible, that's horrific, how can people do this to innocent children?" when we hear of a story? And somehow our few words of muttering make us feel like we doing our part to stop this horrific slavery, that is happening in our cities and suburbs.

I used to do that.

That is ugly. Until 3 years ago.

After I realized what happened to me as a young girl, for the first time in my life, I could not remain a passive voice. I was not going to let darkness, guilt, and shame silence my voice any longer. I was not going to let darkness silence other voices that never have, and may never get a chance to speak out and break from their chains.

Yes, hell was a part of my journey, and hell was ugly. However; to passively ignore the rest of the children and individuals today who are experiencing hell is uglier. No doubt, hell likes to make its mark in our world. But what hell forgets is once it's discovered, freedom is born.

The type of freedom that conquers all hell and breaks all chains.

The type of freedom that once found, can never die.

The type of freedom that can only shout because at one time it was silenced, and isolated, and ugly.

I will no longer let passivity be a part of my jounrey. To remain passive will only add to ugliness.