On Speak out Sunday, Congregations Will Focus on Sexual Abuse: Guest Opinion

By David Leslie and Rev. Amy Gopp
The Oregonian
November 21, 2013

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/11/on_speak_out_sunday_congregati.html

On Nov. 24, churches, congregations and other faith communities around the country will be participating in Speak Out Sunday – an annual day set aside to raise awareness and speak out about sexual and gender based violence (SGBV). SGBV includes domestic violence, rape, sex trafficking, child sex abuse and related acts.

We are proud that the Portland area will be among the most active regions of the country on Speak Out Sunday.

Speak Out Sunday was created by WeWillSpeakOut.US, a coalition and movement led by IMA World Health designed to empower faith communities to speak out and take action to prevent and address SGBV. It is the faith community’s way of collectively amplifying the global efforts of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence held annually from Nov. 25 (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) to Dec. 10 (Human Rights Day).

Why do we need Speak Out Sunday?

Two years ago, Amy traveled to eastern Congo and held the hands of women who had been savagely raped. Left for dead, they made their way to IMA World Health, which works to provide medical care, counseling, legal support and economic opportunities for women – and occasionally men – brutalized by sexual violence.

Let’s not get lost in the word “rape” or in a faraway place like “the Congo.” According to a 2010 report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in three women in the U.S. have reportedly experienced sexual assault, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner. (The same is true for one in four men.)

This same violence happens right here, in the United States, in Portland. Every day a new story breaks that in turn breaks our hearts, and these stories represent only a small fraction of those deeply affected by SGBV. This is why WeWillSpeakOut.US exists, and why we started Speak Out Sunday.

Sexual and gender based violence affects people physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. And while it is enabled by a systemic problem in our society, the perpetration of SGBV is ultimately an act that one person decides to inflict upon another. Our broken society is made up of broken individuals. They need help and a voice. They need a listening ear, an opportunity to heal from what happened to them.

But each of us can be the pinpoint of light that pierces the darkness. We can be the voice that breaks the silence, the loving arms that accept survivors of abuse without shame. We can each take ownership of the responsibility that the cycle of violence must stop with us.

Speak Out Sunday is an opportunity to bring this dark issue into the light. The faith community is a powerful agent of social change, possessing founding principles of love and the abundance of voices needed to influence culture.

On Nov. 24, congregations and faith communities all over the Portland area and the United States will be speaking out.

Will you speak out with us?

David Leslie is executive director of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon and Rev. Amy Gopp is executive director of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Week of Compassion and co-chair of the WeWillSpeakOut.US Steering Committee.