Cleveland Kidnappings Highlight Need to Arm Little Girls

Cleveland triple kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro's mother asks families of missing women for forgiveness | News.com.au

Everyone is talking about the Cleveland kidnappings. What happened is horrific, but people seem to be trying to blame this on American culture or police ineptitude. The reality is that kidnapping girls for use as sex slaves has occurred many times in multiple countries. For example, Marc Dutroux kidnapped and molested a girl in Europe. No doubt this sort of sick behaviour is happening in other countries and no doubt it is happening right now. We just haven't heard it yet. It is comforting to say that this is an American problem or the police are inept or some people are crazy and evil. The uncomfortable reality is that this happens everywhere. If concealed well, girls are easy to hide, and it is easy to get away with this sort of crime. Another uncomfortable truth that no one is mentioning is that dominating women sexually is very mainstream. Sexual slavery of girls is inevitable. It happens now and it will continue to happen.

So what can be done? It is one thing to criticize and despair. It is another thing to suggest a constructive solution. One answer is to empower girls.

Abuse happens when there is a gap in power. If there are two people in a room and each own a handgun each, there is no abuse. If one person has a gun and the other does not, there will be abuse. Girls need to be empowered. Of course, of all groups of people, girls are the most difficult to empower. It is hard to expect a small child to carry a rifle.