I continue to be so impressed with how articulate and compassionate Elizabeth Smart has become. It breaks my heart to think that this wonderful young woman had to think as a 14 year old, even for a second, that her family and church would not want her back after she'd been raped. That for a second she thought, "Who would want me now?" But she did. Elizabeth Smart credits her family's religious emphasis on virginity as a significant reason that she did not try to escape her captors for the 13 months that she was held and raped every day. I can only begin to imagine the guilt her parents have absorbed over that.
She has every reason to be miserable and housebound, but here she is in this interview and article making some incredibly sound points in regard to our response to people affected by sexual assault. Since 1 in 6 of your friends has been sexually assaulted, it's a good thing to consider how our culture shapes the experiences of our sons and daughters and how we contribute to further damaging the exploited. There's so much more to this subject, but below is a link to the article about Elizabeth's experience with the Purity movement.
I hope that you'll take the time to read the whole thing and maybe consider some ways we could change the way we talk about how our culture evaluates a young woman's worth.
Elizabeth Smart Discusses Abstinence Teaching | KUTV.com
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