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Join on Telegram Rabat – The US is struggling to cope with COVID-19 as crises in poverty and hunger spiral out of control and rampant sexual abuse and domestic violence are on the rise. Reports converge that one in four Americans between the age of 18 and 24 contemplated suicide in June. One in six families with children are not getting the food they need. Amid a health crisis that has cost the lives of 198,520 citizens, another silent epidemic is on the rise.
Sexual abuse and incest was already a significant problem in the US. In 2013, up to one-in four girls and one in seven boys faced sexual abuse before they reached the age of 18. Crises of desperation have resulted in a growing and persistent occurrence of sexual abuse, with much of it happening within US households.
Over a third of rape victims in the United States were abused by family members in what many experts see as a vast underestimation of a crime that often goes unreported. Much to the chagrin of vicitms, however, the problem has garnered little attention in a country that blends a deep rooted puritanical tradition with an obsession with sex in the media.
A country in crisis
In a country where more than ten percent of the population contemplated suicide in June, mental health and the trauma of sexual abuse continue to receive little attention. Incest in particular has been discredited as a problem unique to the Black community even as rampant sexual abuse in the Catholic church became public knowledge.
As the problem of incest and child sexual abuse lingers and grows, a growing number of US citizens are presenting these crises, which have become commonplace in their homes and churches, as the preserve of an evil cabal of elites. Meanwhile, child abuse cases in Texas surged amid the outbreak of COVID-19. As families faced lockdowns and school closures, sexual abuse and incest have continued to rise with little attention from the press and the political elite.
One in five cases of child abuse within families are discovered by teachers at school. With schools having been shuttered, child abuse pediatricians are fearful that abuse has risen significantly amid the US’ spiraling crises. Sexual and violent child abuse during these intermingled crises could in turn intensify America’s depression crisis, which has long been connected to the growing Opioid epidemic that kills thousands of Americans each year.
A neglectful government
Growing poverty, depression, and near-feudal levels of inequality are creating crises of desperation in the US. With an upcoming presidential election, the result of which is unlikely to be accepted by either losing side, growing poverty and sexual abuse receive little attention in national politics.
As these immense crises merge into a vortex of misery, 54 million Americans are facing hunger. Meanwhile millions contemplate suicide and incest survivors are neglected. Adding insult to injury is the fact the stock exchange has become completely detached from reality as the government pumps untold billions into large businesses.
“Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget and I’ll tell you what value,” Presidential candidate Joe Biden once said. Amid growing crises the US government has shown no interest in finding or funding structural solutions to poverty, child sexual abuse or even the resulting desperation and depression that result from it.
While this neglect constitutes a giant threat to the future of young Americans, it is important to remember that this same government continues to dominate global politics, trade, and economics.
A government that fails to address rampant poverty, hunger and child abuse at home still holds the position of global hegemon, dictating much of the course of humanity. The United States is wracked by an unrelenting series of crises, including a vastly unstable and divided domestic political scene. Yet, the US still controls the fate of the world as climate change and global inequality become ever more prescient issues..
