A reader of mine brought up an interesting point. She was living in a small village where her attacker was free to roam after the crime was committed. Why are we so willing to forgive these people? Is it because we want to avoid conflict? Do we simply act as though nothing ever happened just to keep peace? Are these victims living in peace? Is it fair to them?

So I did a little research and the numbers are very disturbing.

In my village there are 14 registered sex offenders and 577 people. What are the chances of running into your attacker? Pretty dang high I’d say, given it is only about a mile long, with one post office, two small grocery stores, and limited activities to do.

“According to our research of Alaska and other state lists there were 14 registered sex offenders living in Kotlik as of January 22, 2013.

The ratio of number of residents in Kotlik to the number of sex offenders is 46 to 1 https://www.city-data.com/so/so-Kotlik-Alaska.html

” And no place, women’s advocates say, is more dangerous than Alaska’s isolated villages, where there are no roads in or out, and where people are further cut off by undependable telephone, electrical and Internet service”https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/us/native-americans-struggle-with-high-rate-of-rape.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Of those fourteen, six of them were convicted for a crime against a minor. ” Alaska Natives constituted 49 percent of the sex offender group and 46 percent of offenders overall. ” For the categories of sex offense, 63 percent of those convicted of sexual abuse of a minor were remanded, 50 percent were rearrested and 36 percent were convicted of another offense—although not necessarily a sexual offense. For offenders convicted of sexual assault, the rates were 79 percent, 63 percent, and 45 percent respectively”https://justice.uaa.alaska.edu/forum/25/1-2springsummer2008/g_recidivism.html

Are these chances we are willing to take with our youth?

What message are we sending?

As long as we are accepting of these crimes we will continue to make up 49% of the states sex offenders!

I find these numbers to very disturbing,and I say we send a new message, this will not be tolerated any longer! I find this to be rather embarrassing. Is this the image we want to continue to carry? I say no, I say we stand up and make a change. Change the messages that we are sending. Change the way we treat the victims in these cases. Offer our complete support.