Rape is a global problem. It is not going to disappear from all cultures and societies. It is a part of oppression meant to control, humiliate and destroy its victims.

Too many times, people who are entrusted with the care of vulnerable children or adults are the perpetrators of this crime. The priests in our churches, the police on our forces, the faculty at our schools and the leaders of service groups are all assumed to be people we can trust – yet we see over and over again how some individuals will slip through the cracks. When this happens, it is our children who suffer, most times with scars that will affect the individual the rest of their life. Until we start prosecuting each and every one of these people to the fullest extent possible with the harshest sentencing being the result, we will not see an improvement in our societies that creates the cycle of abuse and victimization for subsequent generations.

The Steubenville and Marysville rape cases has\ve brought national attention to the long awaited conversation needed in American society: the perpetuation of rape culture. Most recently, a Grand Jury indicted four adults associated with the case in Steubenville, while small towns across our nation continue the same reprehensible behavior demonstrated in Ohio. When will we focus seriously on a conversation that encourages us to actually enforce the law, as is finally being done in Steubenville?