Story on Oprah: Cradle Rape

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I watched Oprah today and I've never felt more disgusted or ill in my life, hearing about babies that are being raped in South Africa by grown, AIDS infested 'men' who have been told that if they have sex or 'lay with a child' that the purity of the virgin child will cause the AIDS to go away.

Have any of you ever heard a more sickening thing? They told of a 8 month old........8 MONTHS OLD......that had been savagely gang rapes and cut. The baby was found abandoned and was rushed to the hospital. The injuries so severe, that even the ER doc's cried. AMAZING TO ALL, that precious little miracle lived!! She was adopted by an amazing lady and the baby, now 2 is healthy, loving, and doing well.

My heart is so heavy with this horrafic thing that is going on.

As nurses, what could we do? I don't know how I would even react if I had to treat a patient like this. Would my emotions consume me? Could I be partial?? Oprah said that the country is ashamed. I GUESS SO!! What could our country, our medical society do to help stop this?? Any suggestions??

Kim, I don't know how you stand that professor! How freakin' infuriating can one person be?!?!? And to have to endure another semester with him? Don't forget to rate him at rateyourprofessors.com. I've only passed by there once, but have a good friend that won't take a course unless a prof is listed there with a good rating! Bless your heart for not walking out on the ba$**rd!

Well, I have no choice but to grin and bear it. He has some really radical ideas. His wife is a nurse so he tries to discourage those of us that are going into the nursing program and the director of nursing ENCOURAGES this! OIY! I'm in for some real fun, eh?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Geriatrics.
Just what difference ...as a Christian...make it any easier to find it abhorrant?

And as far as whether a dose of Christianity would help, well that remains to be seen. Some of these same practices go on in the meditterranean/eastern European countries among "Christian" espousing groups. Coptic Christians used to espouse genital mutilation for women.

Christians in this country murdered, lynched and abused Mormons. "Christian" Separatist groups espouse rascist doctrine and racial war. The Dark Continent has not cornered the market on abuse.

And I have gone on mission to Africa...and I am not Christian.

Please stop equating Christian = moral and nonChristian = immoral.

There are many other "faith based" systems other than Christianity.

Very well stated, caroladybelle. To state that someone needs a good dose of Christianity is very arrogant IMO and is not helpful.

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Steph - I would love to hear about his experiences too. I have another 18 months before I get to go back and it is driving me crazy! Most people who go, become enraptured with Africa despite all the bad stuff - we call it "malaria of the heart".

I hear what my friends are dealing with, the politcal oppression, famine, AIDS etc and my heart breaks. I had one friend die already this year and 2 more are very sick.

Christianity is very well received .... the CDC in Atlanta has actually done studies about AIDS education and found that faith-based programs had the greatest impact on people changing their behavior, thus decreasing the transmission of the virus. So... they are working with several mission hospitals in the country to develop a biblically based AIDS education program that is going to be used in all the schools. I think that they are currently using it to instruct the teachers and then the teachers will start using it in the classrooms.

Their culture is awesome and has a lot to offer the world... but I agree - the witch doctors got to go.

Lori

I simply cannot undertand why someone thinks Christianity is the answer to this problem. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the men who did this were at least nominally Xtian. I myself am not Xtian and frankly can't understaned why anyone would be, but that's my personal issue. Religion is not the answer. Education and good puboic health measures are. Doctors and nurses who are expert in infectious disease, public health workers who are not afraid to go out into the community to do grassroots education is the answer. \

Not too long ago, I read some news stories about the war against genital mutilation of girls. The ultraconservative religious leaders in Africa, some of whom are Xtian, traditionally supported this barbaric practice. No headway was made until some courageous women went out into the community and started educating the "cutters," almost all of whom were women, about the damage they were doing. They also were able to reach some of the religious leaders and convince them to speak out against this practice. That's what needs to be done here. Find women to go out into the community and speak to other women, enlist them in protecting their girl babies wherever possible, and facilitate their becoming part of the healthcare teams that are trying to control the spread of HIV and AIDs.

Please don't bring religion into it. It will only serve to make a bad situation worse.

Anne B.

He who saves one life, it is as though he saves the world entire.

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Many times I have said, thank God I was born in america.

well im a nurse,born in south africa,residing in new zealand for the past 3 yrs.I wouldnt exactly say that iM regretting being a capetonian...ive heard about the otrocities being committed ,havent seen the program and i would respond to it at a later stage cos it is 1 am in here in NZ.South Africa is a beautiful place,very multicultural...and im still proud of my country.Every country has its bad side....children get rape for other reasons in the rest of the world......

carmel

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is that so? the last i knew, historians had been able to piece together very little of africa's ambiguous past, but the presence of invaders was apparent long before "colonization." at present, these "invaders" manifest themselves in the haunting faces of the men, women, and children that are disappearing from their countries in droves. and yes, i understand that occasionally it is necessary to sacrifice political correctness for honesty. kaffir boy, a book by mark kummanada, was an excellent portrayal of apartheid south africa without resorting to propaganda or name calling. it spoke volumes of africa's economic and political struggles; i highly recommend it to anyone interested in experiencing african culture through literature. that is exactly the point! too many governments, too many big businesses, and too gosh darn many fanatics have huge investments in african countries but don't have any regard for the people that live there. yes, african governments turned a blind eye to the viral atrocities within their own borders, but so did the us, so did brittan, and so did switzerland. will we continue to do the same thing to other countries experiencing this endemic? nannanurse asked a question; what would stop such terrible acts from being committed? i answered--education while practicing cultural sensitivty. is it free? certainly not. like past dealing, it is an investment; but an investment in the lives of guiltless children who had the misfortune of being born into a world abject poverty and disease, egotism, and ignorance. is life cheap to many africans? life is cheap to those who make existence a matter of finance.

p.s. the south african president blames anti-retroviral for the aids endemic? again, this does not seem consistent from a man with a science background who is the continents forerunner on hiv and aids education. south africa even began distributing condoms at free clinics. scratching my head. :confused:

p.s.s i apologize...you did say many not most. and, yes, that is a big difference!!

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Very well stated, caroladybelle. To state that someone needs a good dose of Christianity is very arrogant IMO and is not helpful.

Oh there I go being arrogant again. To clarify, I don't think "Christianity" is the complete answer to raping babies. Obviously education has to play a huge role but it is certainly complicated to educate when folks are listening to witchdoctors.

I guess I just don't understand why the "arrogant" tag has to be hung on goodhearted people who want to try to help and at the same time happen to be Christian. Admittedly this is personal to me because my son is in Africa now and has been working at an orphanage that has been run by arrogant Christians for a long time, taking in kids whose parents are too poor to raise them or whose parents have died of AIDS. His goal was to build them beds, build a jungle-gym, build ovens to bake bread, teach them a bit about building a large garden and taking a medical clinic into the community to teach basic hygiene. I'm sure there are other organizations that do medical missions for more involved medical care as I know nurses and doctors who go on them.

Of course you can make the argument about what the long term results of sending white Christians into Africa are. And of course there have been "whack them over the head with the Bible" sorts . . .but please, don't catagorize all Christians as arrogant. We are a diverse crowd of people and some of us actually do want to serve others.

If I sounded arrogant in mentioning Christianity in relation to Africa, well that was not my intention. I'm all for anyone who wants to go help educate against babies being raped. It just seemed to me that as a Christian I could convey how much God values life and that would be a counter argument to the witchdoctor's advice that raping a baby can cure the HIV virus. Since I'm a Christian, my mindset comes from that. I never meant that it could come from no place else.

Thanks,

steph

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Specializes in LPN.

First of all, you cannot have sex with a baby. That implies the baby is actively participating.

The only thing you can do is rape a baby.

How can men do that, watch a baby cry and continue this? I can't even imagine the scenerio.

Has anyone contacted Opera and if you have, could you place her answer here?

I don't think there are anyone who isn't outraged. And probably more than wish to tell, have themselves experienced abuse and rape as a young child themselves.

How does one recover?

Where does someone get so much self importance that they would willingly brutely hurt an innocent child to further their own agenda's. How could a person look at or listen to the cries of a baby and pretend they are doing the right thing? I may be a nurse, but I have no compassion for monsters like that. I don't think them as human, and they certianly don't deserve any human treatment in return.

Yes, I am glad to be born in America. But, that doesn't stop brutality to women here. When I gave birth to my son, the girl in the next birthing room was 9 years old, raped by her father. Do I assume she was raped at eight? No, I assume she was raped for years prior to her pregency.

I also would like to do something, but what? :o

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Specializes in Case Management, Acute Care, Missions.

The quote was taken from the British Medical Journal:

"The South African president, Thabo Mbeki, believes that poverty and antiretroviral drugs are the cause of AIDS. His pseudoscientific beliefs may contribute to the unnecessary death of many poor and black people in South Afrika. Mbeki epitomises leadership in denial, and his stand has fuelled government inaction." (5) Sidley P. Clouding the AIDS issue. BMJ 2000;320:1016

Steph - thanks for so eloquently putting words to my thoughts. I agree with you.... and appreciate what you said. :)

Lori

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Quote:

Originally Posted by allthingsbright

i am just horrified at the depravity of man! how low can mankind sink. this just makes me sick.

its hard for me, as a christian, to see how sin causes such perversness in people-and to hear about the graphic details is just...beyond belief.

Just what difference ...as a Christian...make it any easier to find it abhorrant?

And as far as whether a dose of Christianity would help, well that remains to be seen. Some of these same practices go on in the meditterranean/eastern European countries among "Christian" espousing groups. Coptic Christians used to espouse genital mutilation for women.

Christians in this country murdered, lynched and abused Mormons. "Christian" Separatist groups espouse rascist doctrine and racial war. The Dark Continent has not cornered the market on abuse.

And I have gone on mission to Africa...and I am not Christian.

Please stop equating Christian = moral and nonChristian = immoral.

There are many other "faith based" systems other than Christianity.

I don't think allthingsbright was trying to equate nonChristian with immorality. Just using it as an identy. This is who they are.

I didn't see any insults in the post.

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oh there i go being arrogant again. to clarify, i don't think "christianity" is the complete answer to raping babies. obviously education has to play a huge role but it is certainly complicated to educate when folks are listening to witchdoctors.

i guess i just don't understand why the "arrogant" tag has to be hung on goodhearted people who want to try to help and at the same time happen to be christian. admittedly this is personal to me because my son is in africa now and has been working at an orphanage that has been run by arrogant christians for a long time, taking in kids whose parents are too poor to raise them or whose parents have died of aids. his goal was to build them beds, build a jungle-gym, build ovens to bake bread, teach them a bit about building a large garden and taking a medical clinic into the community to teach basic hygiene. i'm sure there are other organizations that do medical missions for more involved medical care as i know nurses and doctors who go on them.

of course you can make the argument about what the long term results of sending white christians into africa are. and of course there have been "whack them over the head with the bible" sorts . . .but please, don't catagorize all christians as arrogant. we are a diverse crowd of people and some of us actually do want to serve others.

if i sounded arrogant in mentioning christianity in relation to africa, well that was not my intention. i'm all for anyone who wants to go help educate against babies being raped. it just seemed to me that as a christian i could convey how much god values life and that would be a counter argument to the witchdoctor's advice that raping a baby can cure the hiv virus. since i'm a christian, my mindset comes from that. i never meant that it could come from no place else.

thanks,

steph

i don't think they were categorizing all christians as being arrogant--just you! :p honestly, though, i applaud your altruism, faith based or not. people, myself included, will respond negatively to the notion that christianity should replace (and in many cases, forcibly so) someone else's spirituality, religious convictions, or god. attempts to do so in the past have had unbelievably destructive consequences. remember the spanish inquisition, the apartheid, the communist plot, or the holocaust, just to name a few? in the short-term, yes, african's can benefit from a warm meal, clean clothes, but the consequence of the invariable presence of christian missionaries is very, very real. it is a big world but it will be an incredibly tight fit if we don't learn to respect one another.

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I simply cannot undertand why someone thinks Christianity is the answer to this problem. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the men who did this were at least nominally Xtian. I myself am not Xtian and frankly can't understaned why anyone would be, but that's my personal issue. Religion is not the answer. Education and good puboic health measures are. Doctors and nurses who are expert in infectious disease, public health workers who are not afraid to go out into the community to do grassroots education is the answer. \

Not too long ago, I read some news stories about the war against genital mutilation of girls. The ultraconservative religious leaders in Africa, some of whom are Xtian, traditionally supported this barbaric practice. No headway was made until some courageous women went out into the community and started educating the "cutters," almost all of whom were women, about the damage they were doing. They also were able to reach some of the religious leaders and convince them to speak out against this practice. That's what needs to be done here. Find women to go out into the community and speak to other women, enlist them in protecting their girl babies wherever possible, and facilitate their becoming part of the healthcare teams that are trying to control the spread of HIV and AIDs.

Please don't bring religion into it. It will only serve to make a bad situation worse.

Anne B.

He who saves one life, it is as though he saves the world entire.

This is what was said: "Christianity is very well received .... the CDC in Atlanta has actually done studies about AIDS education and found that faith-based programs had the greatest impact on people changing their behavior, thus decreasing the transmission of the virus."

I am sure the CDC's study involved more than faith-based programs, but, they won out.

Soooo, if it helps, and keeps children from being raped/born with HIV, and has the greatest impace in preventing the spread.... then go for it.

Priorities...Save lives first, stop the epidemic...

(This reminds me of the plant that grows anywhere, with much nourishment value, but isn't used in episodes of drought, because it has a carcinogenic.)

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i don't think they were categorizing all christians as being arrogant--just you! :p honestly, though, i applaud your altruism, faith based or not. people, myself included, will respond negatively to the notion that christianity should replace (and in many cases, forcibly so) someone else's spirituality, religious convictions, or god. attempts to do so in the past have had unbelievably destructive consequences. remember the spanish inquisition, the apartheid, the communist plot, or the holocaust, just to name a few? in the short-term, yes, african's can benefit from a warm meal, clean clothes, but the consequence of the invariable presence of christian missionaries is very, very real. it is a big world but it will be an incredibly tight fit if we don't learn to respect one another.

i think i said there "i" go being arrogant again. so i get that they think i'm being arrogant. :)

i'll bet you could take any group of people and find some who are arrogant.

i just get so tired of labels . . . . . maybe those calling others arrogant need to look in the mirror sometimes. no one is perfect. no group is perfect.

respecting one another would be great.

steph

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