Stranger Danger?

“STRANGER DANGER”?

Once there was a little girl who loved to sit on the lap of everyone. She was a very affectionate person, who trusted all those she knew.

Then one day when she was about four years old her uncle and aunt came to stay at her house for a visit. Her aunt and uncle were nice people, whenever they came to stay they would bring presents for all the family.

On this visit they also brought their family of three boys, all older than the little girl, but this didn’t worry her. To her this just meant that there would be more people for her to play with.

Then one day the oldest of the cousins (he was about fifteen,) said that he had a new game that they could play. He took the little girl to a quiet place and told her that to play the game, she had to take off her dress. When the little girl said that she didn’t want to take her dress off, he told her that if she didn’t, then she couldn’t play with any of the cousins ever again. The little girl didn’t want to be left out of all the fun and games, so she did as she was told. The boy told her she had to lay down in the grass and she wasn’t allowed to make any noise or call out, because if she did then the game would finish and again she would not be allowed to play with anyone ever again.

So the little girl did as she was told, the boy lay down beside her and touched her all over, and then he took off the little girl’s panties and did some things that made the little girl want to cry. Then he said that the game was over and she could get dressed, but if she ever told anyone what had happened then he would bash her up, and he could do it too because he was bigger and stronger than she was!

The little girl was very brave. She decided that she would tell her mother anyway, but when she tried to tell, she didn’t have the words. She could only say that she didn’t like her cousin and that he did naughty things, and that she didn’t want to play with him any more. Her mother said that it didn’t matter as the cousins and their parents were leaving the next day.

This made the little girl feel better, she had told on her cousin, and now the visitors had to leave, but she was still afraid that the boy would bash her up for telling, so she stayed in her room ‘till it was time for tea and then went straight to bed.

Some time after this (maybe about a year,) another uncle came to stay; he was a big man, even taller than the little girl’s daddy was. One day, the girl’s mother had to go away for awhile, so she left the uncle to look after the little girl and her brothers. After some time the little girl became board with the toys she was playing with and went to find her uncle. He said he had a game to play, and he sat her on his knee and said the game was called “What is This?” he would touch a part of her body and she had to name it, like a foot, or an ear, or nose. At first the game was fun, but then he started to touch parts that made the girl feel, well, not right! But when she said that she didn’t want to play any more, the uncle said that her mother had left him in charge so she had to do what he told her.

When her mother came home the little girl asked if it was true, what her uncle had said. That she had to do what she was told, even when she didn’t want to? Because Uncle had made her do things she didn’t want to do! The little girl’s mother said that it was what she had to do since Uncle was a grown-up, and besides he had been left in charge!

The little girl was sad, the last time she had told on someone her mother had made them leave, why did she now say that she had to do these things? Soon the little girl would go and play somewhere on her own when her uncle was left in charge, she would find a place that was nice and quiet (and safe) where her uncle couldn’t find her. She didn’t play with her friends any more, her uncle knew who they were and would find her there.

Finally the uncle left, but the little girl was now too shy to play with her old friends, she didn’t know how to talk to them anymore, everything had changed somehow. So she played on her own, besides, she wasn’t so little anymore, she was now about ten years old.

This young girl (lets call her… Eve, it’s about time she had a name,) was tired of not having any friends. So one day when a new girl came to her school, Eve made friends. It wasn’t long before Eve found that it was fun to have a friend. The loneliness and isolation that she had always felt began to fade. So Eve took her newfound courage and made more friends, both boys and girls, some younger, some older than she was.

After a few years some of the boys from Eve’s circle of friends came and asked Eve if she would like to go swimming with them. Since it was a very hot day Eve agreed. Eve’s ‘gang’ often went swimming and everyone had loads of fun, so to her this day was no different from any other just like it. But this day was different!

The boys gathered around Eve and said they wanted a f*** so she had better get her clothes off! Eve didn’t know what to do, the boys were saying things that made Eve feel that if she didn’t let the boys do what they wanted then she would lose all her friends. Eve really didn’t want to have sex, but she remembered the loneliness and all the times when she craved for them but had no friends. Finally Eve let the boys have what they wanted. Afterwards all the boys were patting each other on the back and told Eve that she had better not say anything of what had happened.

Eve really couldn’t tell anyone. Her mother hadn’t done anything the last time she told, and she felt that after this, maybe she really didn’t know her friends as well as she thought, so who was there to tell? Maybe she had done or said something to make the boys think that it was what she wanted. Maybe this was normal, and what friends did! After all, this is what happens at home with her brother! And the boys had said that it was her fault! So Eve had to keep it all to herself, what was it that she was doing wrong? Why did she feel so bad if it was normal? Why if it was so normal, did she have to stay silent?

The boys on the other hand had been bragging of it, and it soon came to the attention of the police. A court-case was deemed appropriate. Eve was placed on a good behavior bond and remained under the court’s supervision for 24 months. The judge told Eve what a horribly bad girl she had been, and how she had disgraced her parents by such behaviour, and as such was little better than a prostitute and unworthy of much respect or consideration. Eve was crushed by what had been said, she was no good!

At the court hearing a minister stood up for Eve saying that Eve was a good girl and he was sure that nothing like that would ever happen again. Eve was grateful for the words and support from the minister.

Eve soon learned that it was silly to try to keep this a secret. Because she hadn’t told, people were saying that it was all her own fault, and she was just a whore, and in the end she still lost all her friends anyway, but worse was to come!

The minister who had spoken-up for Eve in court took more interest in her, Eve was glad that she still had someone to talk to, but it wasn’t long before he too began to press Eve for sex. When Eve protested and threatened to tell, he just laughed and said it wouldn’t do her any good since it was his word, the word of a minister, against the word of someone who had already been charged with being promiscuous. And Eve’s older brothers would bring home friends from school that she was required to ‘entertain’. This continued until the brothers left home.

 Other similar things happened to Eve, and it wasn’t till she moved from her home town that she was able to break from her past and make herself believe that she wasn’t just a rotten person, but someone special (even if only to herself.)

All her young life at school and at home, Eve had been warned of the danger of strangers and how strangers were a threat to her safety. It wasn’t strangers who threatened Eve! It was people who were trusted, relations and friends. These were the ones to hurt Eve, these were the people who nearly destroyed her self-respect and gave her a mistrustful out-look on life and people, not a stranger!

Did you know that 99% of all sexual assaults on children are committed by people who are known to the victim?              “STRANGER DANGER” IS A MYTH!

Epilogue:   It was a stranger who comforted and healed Eve. He took her into His family and took away all the hurts, anger, pain and negative attitudes that Eve had been holding to herself. All the members of His family welcomed Eve like she was someone special, not just to herself, but to them as well. He loved her for who she was and not what He could get from her. He even taught her to love herself in a wholesome way.

His name, is JESUS.