If You Want To Actually Materially Address Child Abuse, The Single Most Important Thing You Can Do To

if you want to actually materially address child abuse, the single most important thing you can do to start is give children the legally enforceable right to leave any situation they no longer want to be in.

church, extracurriculars, summer camps, school classes, their biological family's houses. notably, these are the places that child abuse is enabled by the child's inability to just fucking leave if they need to. they can't walk out of church if their youth pastor touches them inappropriately; they'll get punished for leaving. if they walk out of their house because their dad hits them, the cops pick them up and give them right back to their dad.

children need the legal autonomy to leave abusive situations in order to even begin to usefully materially address child abuse.

original post by qweerhet because it's unrebloggable but very important

I was bullied for 7 years by mainly the same kid. I told teachers and got various responses such as "Why don't you try being like other kids, then?" And "Just ignore him."

I ignored him and it kept happening.

I yelled at him one morning and I was the one who got in trouble for "disrupting class"

I shoved him back after he slammed me into my locker and I got detention for "starting fights"

I reported him to the anti-bullying counselor, and we both got called out of class to have a "face-to-face" and talk things out. It got worse after that.

What made him stop was when a girl a year older than him grabbed him, slammed him into the wall, and told him to leave me alone. He never messed with me again.

So, yeah. Scare the shit out of bullies and they'll leave you alone.

"they think being a pedophile is okay as long as you don't act on your thoughts!" yes, dipshit, that is in fact how "thought crime isn't real" works.

not sure what to put as the caption but. yeah!!!!