More about Marguerite...

I am over half finished with disk two. On my way to work this morning, I felt the tears well up in my eyes when I heard Marguerite (Maya's birthname) describe being raped when she was eight. Once again, Dr. Angelou's words took me to a place I've never been. I was fearful, saddened, and tired. Tired because of how she explains her weariness and exhaustion after the incident. Because I am listening to her story over my car stereo, I feel as if I am talking to over the phone and she is chatting with me and telling me her life's stories.

The fear of a child is expressed through her stories. She, as I am sure many children do, felt as though she had done something bad. She was fearful to tell anyone because her assultor had threatened to kill her and her brother if she told. What worried me is that I wondered how many children feel like this every day. How many children are sexually abused every day? I found a lot of data on the internet. According to one statistic, 500,000 children are sexually abused each year. That is over 1300 kids a day! I am sure that many cases go unreported, so if that statistic is true, who knows how high it really is!!!

Dr. Angelou was hospitalized and then suffered through the trial of her molestor. Her molestor never went to prison, his lawyer got him out of his 1 year, 1 day sentence. She wasn't sure how, but she wasn't sure how he was killed either. According to a police report, they thought that he had been kicked to death. Marguerite (Maya) did not speak to anyone, except her brother, Bailey, for quite a while after the death of her molestor. She states that she felt as though her words (from testifying at the trial) killed the man. She was fearful that her words were "a poison" and would poison someone else. She also felt that she loved Bailey so much and had spoken to him so many times before that her "poisonous words" would not harm him.

According to the "quick" online research I did this evening, there are many possible long term effects of the abuse. From juvenile deliquency to eating disorders and everything in between, I am sure it is a torturous life for the victim and the family. The most amazing statistic that I saw today was that 95% of teenage prostitutes were former victims of child molestation/sexual abuse. I guess it makes sense, but it was just very SHOCKING!

So, even though I have never been in the situation myself, I feel as if I got closer than I ever wanted to be to that situation when I heard Dr. Angelou's voice over my car radio today. I just pray for all of the victims and victims' families who have lived through the terror. My prayers and thoughts are with you.

May your family have a happy and safe holiday weekend!

(Sorry for being so gloomy today. Dr. Angelou is a wonderful writer and great writing has a tendancy to influence my mood.)

(Disclaimer: If these stats are incorrect, I apologize. I did a little research this evening and I checked the stats on a few sites and it was consistent. I hope I do not offend anyone by this post. I just posted this to share my emotions of the day.)