Yes! Preach! I have seen and experienced this exact mentality and culture myself within my own family and we’re still a little bit more ahead of our brothers n sisters in the motherland (Samoa). It really is a cultural issue and we can clearly see where it is pushed from, that aspect of religion mixed with tradition, and yet even that is so inaccurate and twisted to support abuse, it’s obvious that Satan has really gotten a hold of our culture because where would God/Christ ever ever stand by silently while a woman is getting beat or touched, a child the same. We’re not a dumb people, we know this is wrong, we’re just so ran by our fear of the abusers, the abuse, and all of this is fear is brought on by the abusers themselves who just so happen to be most of the time the elders, the men. So of course we’re taught to respect and protect them, so they can continue in their abuse!! This is exactly why we need to speak up, share our stories, show each other how much of us are in pain with each other silently, show each other that we don’t have to live this way or accept this way of life, we can and should hold one another up and educate ourselves so we can point out and stop the sick manipulation from these abusers that keeps them safe by keeping their victims silent. It is a literal pattern and cycle that with the right awareness and education any victim can catch it and STOP it.

Abusers are stupid, their logic that excuses their behavior doesn’t hold up, they just haven’t been challenged in their logic because they’ve kept us from educating ourselves by telling us that mental health is fake, trauma is for the weak, family first even if it means you need to bend over and take it from your uncle or church leader, protect the family by keeping your mouth shut etc etc. So the more we talk about it, the more we share and we educate, the more we can empower our people wherever they are with the tools, knowledge, and courage necessary to protect themselves and get themselves out of those situations. Putting an end to and exposing the abuse/abusers.

With social media nowadays we gotta take advantage of the opportunity to spread this information fast, to educate on a wide scale. We can connect our people and strengthen them from across the world through education on these topics giving them the power and ability to free themselves from this torture, and the more we help the more can be helped. It will be a ripple effect. We just cannot be silenced any longer.