As Old As The Oldest Profession

Male sexual abuse is as old as the Oldest Profession. Around the world, since people kept records, there are stories of men using boys for pleasure. The dancing boys of Afghanistan goes back millennia. The Buddhists brought sex with men from India to China and Japan. The Samurai had their warriors train young men in the art of combat and the art of love. Across Africa and the Americas, tribes had ritual initiations; that is older men penetrated boys as a way to initiate the young into adulthood.

Today, the Catholic Church is teaching us how pervasive the need for men to enjoy young flesh is. From Pennsylvania to India to Rome, priests have looked away from the emotional consequences of sexual abuse in pursuit of their pleasures.

Twenty-five years ago, the Swiss did an international study of sexual abuse. They found one out of three women are sexual assaulted in their youth. And one out of four men have a history of sexual violence. In the States, we are told one out of three women are sexually abused as children and one out of six men. Think about it. When you go to a football game, one out of six men in the stands have a childhood story of abuse to tell.

Who is asking? Who is listening? Who is sharing?