Rape, Molestation, Sexual Abuse: How God’s Law protects from it.

Wikipedia reports that roughly one in every five women in the United States will be raped at least once in their lifetime. These numbers are only based upon reported cases, so the number could actually be higher.   Understanding the causes behind what incites these horrific events can go a long way toward keeping yourself from becoming a statistic.

Scripture tells us that lust is the seed that incites people to violence of any kind.

“Where do wars and fights come from among you?  Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and you do not have…” James 4:1-2

When you stand in the way of someone’s desire, there stands a good chance that person may be tempted to hurt you.  Prevention really begins by removing the root causes of these behaviors.  Both individuals and societies can do things to undermine these causes.     Remove the fuel from this fire and the lust will eventually die out.  Weed out the lust and the motives for violence will vanish.  For individual women, this begins with not making yourself a target in the first place by keeping God’s law.  Don’t do anything that would incite the lust of individuals around you.   God’s specific commands are not intended to restrict freedom but rather furnish protection.  Don’t play with other people’s heart strings through flirting and your chances of arousing someone’s passion to do you harm decreases.  Dressing modestly makes you a person and not just a piece of meat. Remember, immodesty negatively impacts every man in the room.   Restricting most public displays of affection to the privacy of the marriage bed keeps everyone safe.  Modesty and propriety make him less likely to hurt you.   Failing to do these things does not give men just cause for hurting women in any circumstance, but they do incite them nonetheless.  Personal observance does not stop all men, but it certainly lowers the risks by lowering a man’s incentives to hurt her.  Being aware of the moral compass of the men around you also goes a long way toward prevention.  All heterosexual men are attracted to the opposite sex.  A man’s inclination to rape someone really comes down to whether or not he possesses morals.  If God rules in the heart of a man, his conscience will guide his behavior.   If the Law has no place in his heart, then only the threat of being caught by someone else will restrain him.   This cannot be read simply by looking at someone’s face; know what you don’t know.  Most perpetrators were not strangers to their victims.   Women typically avoid strangers, but fall victim to men they trust- their husbands, their boyfriends, their brothers, their fathers, their coaches, their priests, etc.  Watching a man’s deeds to determine his character and avoiding those who clearly lack it go a long way toward prevention.  The next thing that helps is being aware of one’s surroundings and whether or not the rule of law holds influence in the place.  Most women know not to go by themselves into a dark alley.  They realize any perpetrator may be emboldened in such a place to try something because the shadow provides a type of cloak from being caught.  Of course, other places exist where the law cannot protect you.  When the rule of law breaks down in a society, even open public places can become dangerous.  Without the Law present, a woman remains vulnerable.  Both Bible Prophecy and history bear out cases where many women were raped en mass once anarchy broke out in a city.  Being mindful of whether or not the rule of law is present in a place and avoiding areas where it does not exist, will also go a long way toward preventing sexual abuse.  Since morals across the board are necessary to avoid sexual violence, society has a big role to play at prevention.    I will discuss this role in a later post.  If men, women, and society all played their part in upholding God’s laws regarding sexual morality, the problems of rape, molestation, and sexual abuse would disappear.

Related Links:
Why Should I avoid Sexual Immorality?
Rape, Sexual Violence, & Abuse: Why Brute Force it when there is a better way?
Divorce-Biblical Guidelines for when it's permitted 
Beauty, Fashion: They never bring Love if only skin deep
Immodesty, Public Nudity, exhibition: also exposes loose morals
Women in sex industry: should pity, not envy 
Why Prohibit Sexual Revolution? Avoid Making Society a Desolation