We don’t know in its full measure why the stigma of sexual abuse, or abuse of any kind has such a long-term grip on those who are the victims and ravaged by the effect.
We have learned, however, that the pain can last for the rest of that lifetime, felt as intensely with each thought of it, as if it happened yesterday.
It is a good thing that these new laws that extend the possible reporting period for sexual-abuse crimes perpetrated against young people are coinciding with the axe that has been taken to the stigma of reporting and admitting one has been a victim. The latter has been brought about by the outpouring of grief and anger over the past few years. It is a healthy tonic for our society and culture.
Hopefully it is also a beacon globally, for all those who suffer abuse at the hands of the cruel monsters who impose it.
Most if not all victims and survivors of abuse are relieved to see the likes of Bill Cosby behind bars and Harvey Weinstein dangling in the wind as he awaits just the first trial he’ll be facing. However, there is no pleasure in it. They would much prefer that it had never happened.
But still, it is good to know beyond doubt that yes it is true! What Goes Around Comes Around! It is good to know that its a matter of physics, same as electricity, gravity and the turning of the tides, and just a matter of time before the seeds planted come to fruition in each one’s life.
They say that the Boy Scouts may be forced to declare bankruptcy. If so, it would be because people did not believe its true, that What Goes Around Comes Around!
If you’re one of them, you better rethink that fast, and here is the book to help you do so
Boy Scouts of America Is Sued Over Sexual Abuse Allegations
NY Times By Jan. 7, 2020
Eight men who say that they were sexually abused as children by Boy Scouts of America leaders sued the organization in Washington, D.C., on Monday, accusing it of failing to provide a safe environment and of covering up decades of sex abuse, a group of lawyers representing the men said in a statement.
It was the latest lawsuit to be filed against the Boy Scouts in a long-running sexual abuse scandal that has prompted the organization to consider bankruptcy. The alliance of lawyers, called Abused in Scouting, last filed a similar lawsuit against the Boy Scouts in Philadelphia in August.
The filing on Monday goes to the heart of a movement in some states in recent years to widen or revive the period of time under which survivors of sexual abuse can take legal action.
In 2019, such new “revival laws” took effect in eight states and in the nation’s capital, giving survivors possible new windows to justice, according to CHILD USA, a nonprofit organization that tracks such legislation.
A closer look at the case
The case filed on Monday in United States District Court in Washington raises issues of jurisdiction as it moves forward. While the decades-old abuse alleged by the men did not take place there, none of them were from states where they had access to opportunities for legal action, Aitan Goelman, a lawyer with Zuckerman Spaeder, one of the firms in the alliance, said in an interview on Tuesday.
But a new statute in the District of Columbia gives plaintiffs from May 3, 2019, through May 2, 2021, to file claims against alleged perpetrators, giving them a potential pathway to justice in cases where statues of limitation would prevent them from bringing suit. The location was chosen because the Boy Scouts was incorporated in the District of Columbia and received a federal charter from Congress, according to the lawsuit.
The statute there is open to all child sexual abuse survivors up to the age of 40 and, in some circumstances, older victims or those assaulted as adults. The case could lead to new opportunities for justice for men who are still coming forward, Mr. Goelman said.
“We want survivors in states that don’t have window statutes to have some measure of justice,” he said. “We certainly don’t look at this as one and done.”
The eight men were not named in the suit to protect their identities. Each of them was sexually abused as a minor, some when they were as young as 8 years old, during scouting activities, according to the lawsuit.
They have “suffered severe and life-long injuries” from the abuse, which occurred in at least a half-dozen states, including Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, Arkansas, Florida and Texas, starting in the early 1990s, the suit says.
A similar case in Pennsylvania
Abused in Scouting represents 1,551 men across the country who say that they suffered abuse as children. In August 2019, the organization represented a man, now in his 50s, in a lawsuit that said that an assistant scoutmaster sexually abused him in the mid-1970s, when he was a scout in Luzerne County, Pa.
The suit says the Boy Scouts’ “negligent, willful, wanton, reckless and tortious acts and omissions” allowed the abuse to happen.
The lawsuit also accused the Boy Scouts of engaging in a cover-up to hide “the extent of the pedophilia epidemic within their organization,” and asserted that there were hundreds more possible sexual predators associated with the organization, beyond those already listed in its files.
In the Abused in Scouting statement on Monday, Mr. Goelman said the Boy Scouts “has never disclosed the substantial risks of sex abuse in Scouting — instead, it has actively shielded the names of pedophilic scoutmasters — violations of B.S.A.’s legal duty to report such information to Congress and the American public.”
Boy Scouts of America’s response
The Boy Scouts has said that it has considered financial restructuring so it can “fairly compensate victims who suffered abuse during their time in Scouting.”
At the time of the Pennsylvania lawsuit, the Boy Scouts said there were “instances in our organization’s history when cases were not addressed or handled in a manner consistent with our commitment to protect scouts, the values of our organization and the procedures we have in place today.”
In an emailed statement on Monday, after the latest lawsuit was filed in Washington, the Boy Scouts said that it cared “deeply about all victims of child abuse” and wanted to “sincerely apologize to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting.”
In part, the emailed statement continued:
We are outraged that there have been times when individuals took advantage of our program to abuse innocent children. We believe victims, we support them, we pay for counseling by a provider of their choice and we encourage them to come forward. It is the Boy Scouts of America (B.S.A.) policy that all incidents of suspected abuse are reported to law enforcement.
“A stable, positive, non-preachy, objective voice makes the manual stand apart from others in the genre. A successful guide that uses anecdotes to reveal powerful truths about life.” – Kirkus Reviews
“I’ve read a number of books that focus on sharing a similar message, including “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne, “The Answer” by John Assaraf & Murray Smith, “The Celestine Prophecy” by James Redfield, “Think and Grow Rich,” by Napoleon Hill, and I must say that I find Rob’s to be my favorite.” – Sheryl Woodhouse, founder of Livelihood Matters LLC
Boy Scouts of America Is Sued Over Sexual Abuse Allegations
Boy Scouts of America Is Sued Over Sexual Abuse Allegations