Am I my brothers keeper

"Am I my brothers keeper?" Genesis 4:9
  Am I my sister's protector?

It's a question I've toiled with many times when I wonder if I should speak up for a friend. Do I have to be the one to stand up for this person or will somebody else do it? Can I just look away? Often fear of conflict or  non-willingness to step up, care, and advocate can make us passive onlookers to injustice.

Yet if I was called by God to "speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of the destitute" to watch out for my neighbors and defend the orphans.. don't I have a duty to speak up for the vulnerable? Proverbs 31:8

I work in a field closely related to women's rights. I talk to women who are victims of rape or domestic violence. Needless to say, I am passionate about woman's advocacy, domestic violence, and abuse.

I want to share with you two tragic stories that have been in the news regarding two rape cases when no one was there to help or report. (Statistically speaking FYI, one in four women have been victims of rape or attempted rape, and one if four married women have experienced domestic violence. When you look at third world countries, Asian and African countries, your women's rights plummet to the ground far below these statistics and child slaves, wife beating, and female genital mutilation is common. If you are interested in women's rights and social justice I strongly recommend this eye opening article by Rachel Evans on why we need feminism https://rachelheldevans.com/blog/we-need-feminism and http://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a14531235/sexual-assault-victims-forced-to-speak-out/ for a great individual perspective on what it's like to be a victim. But I will be the first to agree that it's not just woman who are having difficulties with these issues and statistically men are the last to come forward and talk about it.)

The first story I want to share with you is the Glen Ridge rape case which was the first time a sexual assault of a woman with an intellectual disability captured widespread national attention. It was 1989, and after school, a group of popular high school athletes persuaded a young woman who was in special ed classes to come into one of their basements with the promise of setting her up with the football player she had a crush on. Instead of fulfilling the promise, the athletes forced her to perform oral sex and assaulted her with a baseball bat and broomstick. That day there were 13 men who saw what was happening in the basement and by the end of the night six men had lift. But no man stopped it, no man stood up for what was right, no man reported the incident.

Fast forward to last year, not far from where I live, a 16 year old football player was raped by four of his team mates. And no other team mates or the coach came forward to report when the incident happened.

Both of these stories could have gone so differently if just one person would have spoke up. If one person would have said "Stop, this is wrong" so much pain and guilt could have been saved. I don't believe the wounds of rape, domestic violence, and abuse can ever be fully erased but I believe we have a healer that can transform these wounds into beautiful stories of healing and that love can be written over the scars.

One of the first people I think about in the Bible that stood up for her "brothers and sisters", that stood up for what she believed is Esther. Esther risked her life to stand up for her people when they experienced injustice and God richly rewarded her. A second person is Abraham who pleaded for Lot's family and the city of Sodom. Abraham chose to care and plead on their behalf for mercy and it made a difference. These were passionate people in their times; these were advocates.

And I think God is calling us to advocate for others in the same way. I believe that we are called to see, not to look away or stagger back in fear, but to choose justice, to choose to speak up, to choose to care enough to act. Today there are many social justice issues and many different controversial stances and political beliefs. It can be so tempting  to close your eyes, turn off the news, and say "that's not about me or my people so I don't care." This is the wrong attitude. Every human being, every color, every gender, people from every country are beloved children of God. We have to stand up for justice. We have to be our brothers and sisters' keepers; we need each other.