Powerlessness

Powerlessness is the act of robbing an individual of the right to choose. Free will is divinely granted by God. It is the sovereign right to make conscious decisions about oneself. When this right is violated, it sinks the soul into utter depravity. This is the seed of powerlessness.

The powerlessness stems from the fact that the victim had no way to change the situation. In the case of abuse, the perpetrator blocks any attempt at a change of circumstances, leaving no chance of an escape. A child who is born into an abusive family situation doesn’t understand its depravity; the child accepts it as a part of life. Complying with the abuser’s demands is a survival mechanism.

Note: The content for the rest of the session is primarily relevant to victims of sexual abuse and human trafficing.

When sexual abuse comes with consistent attention with gifts, love, and pleasure, the sexual acts are viewed as part of the way of life through which one expresses affection. Later in life, this experience codifies the understanding that a sexual act is an imminent, natural part of all personal encounters. The sanctity of sexual purity is a foreign concept. The deep longing for love and acceptance is coupled with the duty and the desire always to provide sexual favors. This is the ugly beast of being born into promiscuity. At this point, the abuser had robbed the victim twice: Once of choice and once of dignity.

When the sexual encounter comes with pain and violence, the dynamics are entirely different. It is not love, affection, and pleasure that keep the victim silent, but the mortal fear of more pain and violence. The terror is shrouded in secrecy. The compliance is secured with treats. This is an act of quadruple aggravation upon an individual's physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual faculties. In contrast to the “pleasure” abuse that leads to promiscuity, this experience throws the victim into “shutting down” mode that postulates not only complete avoidance of any future sexual encounters but complete avoidance of individuals from the gender associated with the sexual abuse. The above-described situations of child sexual abuse result in ambivalence of the responses.