How Important is Purpose in the Life of a Victim

 People need purpose as much as they need food, water, and air.

We have all heard of Victor Frankl, a holocaust survivor. He said “what separated the living from the dead was not age, physical strength or health. Many who were weaker, older, and sickly survived while others did not. Survivors were distinguished by their ability to envision a future for themselves despite their suffering.

​They believed there was purpose to their lives then and in the future. “They did not surrender to despair.” It may seem different then what you would expect that an older person could envision a future over a younger one but that is exactly the point. People of all ages and conditions can choose to live a life dedicated to a purpose. The survivors were living proof of what Friedrich Nietzsche said:

"He Who Has a WHY Can Bear Any How."

They say most of us will never go through the horror that Frankl experienced but the fact is, children of FSA also experience great horror on a daily basis.

Sexual abuse is not an isolated abuse. It is often coupled with other types of abuse, such as physical abuse, emotional abuse, manipulaton and coercion. Sexual abuse is not making love consensually between two adults. How can a 5 year old little girl or boy give a father, uncle, grandfather or stepfather the okay to understand the sexual requests? They can’t. Sexual Abuse consists of manipulation, bribes, and forcing the child to be in sexual situations. Often when a child complains and says no, physical violence occurs until they are submissive to the requests.

Sexual relations between a parent and their own child is against the law. RAINN, a nationally known advocacy group against any type of sexual assault defines sexual abuse as, “child sexual abuse does not need to include physical contact between a perpetrator and a child. Some forms of child sexual abuse include: exposing oneself to a minor, fondling, intercourse, masturbation in the presence of a minor or forcing the minor to masturbate, obscene phone calls, text messages, or digital interaction, producing, owning, or sharing pornographic images or movies of children, sex of any kind with a minor, including vaginal, oral or anal, sex trafficking and any other sexual conduct that is harmful to a child’s mental, emotional or physical welfare."

Imagine living in a home where a child is at the mercy of the abuser each day, each week, each month. After years of this kind of abuse, no wonder the descriptions of feeling broken, used, and damaged are associated with how victims feel. Unfortunately, it is also how society views them.
 
Nevertheless, the lesson is clear, as people have experienced sexual abuse the only way to overcome and thrive is if they are focused on a clear purpose. When a person has been sexually abused they are often uncertain where they stand, where they are going, and what path they should be on.

Purpose is the guiding force that keeps us focused on our true north. Just as a functioning compass, no matter where you stand, will always point north. A functioning adult always has the potential and capacity to tap into that highest and greatest part of themselves. In essence, Sacred Innocence believes every child deserves to grow up in an abuse free home.

​Sacred Innocence believes if a victim learns the tools necessary to change the patterns of abuse in their family and become “chainbreakers” they will turn from victim to heroin in their family line. The name of our nonprofit, Sacred Innocence, bares our vision of the importance and value of a child to be worthy of respect, humany dignity, and the importance of protecting their very innocence.