This is Part 2 of my interview with Justin Holcomb, who wrote Rid of My Disgrace with his wife, Lindsey.

To buy a copy of Rid of My Disgrace, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1433515989/commongrounds-20

For Part 1, click here:
http://commongroundsonline.org/content/sexual-abuse-and-gospel-interview...
--- --- ---

GL: How do you define sexual assault?

JH: There are three parts to our definition of sexual assault: 1) any type of sexual behavior or contact 2) where consent is not freely given or obtained and 3) is accomplished through force, intimidation, violence, coercion, manipulation, threat, deception, or abuse of authority.

This definition gets beyond our society’s narrow understanding of the issue and expands the spectrum of actions to be considered sexual assault. A definition that is too narrow can cause some victims of assault and those who should be supporting them to downplay the experience.

GL: What purpose do you hope the book will serve?

JH: We wrote this book for the many victims of sexual assault, both male and female, to offer accessible, gospel-based help. They need the kind of hope and healing that only the gospel of Jesus Christ can provide.

For many years we have ministered to victims who want and need a clear explanation of how the gospel applies to their experience of sexual assault and its effects in their lives. Our goal is to provide victims with a compassionate and hopeful resource to help them move toward healing. To victims, who know too well the depths of destruction and the overwhelming sense of disgrace, we want to communicate this message of grace:

What happened to you was not your fault. You are not to blame. You did not deserve it. You did not ask for this. You should not be silenced. You are not worthless. You do not have to pretend like nothing happened. Nobody had the right to violate you. You are not responsible for what happened to you. You are not damaged goods. You were supposed to be treated with dignity and respect. You were the victim of assault and it was wrong. You were sinned against. Despite all the pain, healing can happen and there is hope. (Rid of My Disgrace, page 15)

Also, we wrote this book to help equip pastors and ministry staff as well as family members and friends of victims. As they read what we are saying to victims, we hope they learn to respond and care for victims in ways that are compassionate, practical, and informed.

Tragically, many churches and Christians are woefully unprepared to help those have been assaulted. Worse still, many Christian leaders (including parents) are ignorant of this epidemic because ashamed victims are reluctant to simply declare what has been done to them, and untrained leaders do not recognize the signs of sexual assault or know how to lovingly ask questions.

So many parents, spouses, ministers, and friends are looking for solid, gospel-based information that would be helpful in serving victims. Informed supporters are very important for the healing process for victims.

Much of the literature on sexual assault employs self-help approaches that do not offer the full-orbed good-news of the gospel—that it is God’s one-way love replacing self-love that is the true path to healing.

GL: Why should someone who experienced sexual assault read this book? Why should a friend, parent, loved-one, or pastor read it?

JH: For victims, it is full of accessible, gospel-based help, hope, and healing. The book is focused on applying the amazing grace of the gospel to the trauma and horror of sexual assault.

For those who are or will be in supporting roles, the book will help them respond and care for victims in ways that are compassionate, practical, and informed.

Our experience in the area of abuse, both personally and professionally, led us to write this book. While avoiding platitudes, suspicious questions, and shallow theology, we combine practical victim advocacy, biblical and theological depth, and up-to-date academic research.

GL: Aren’t there a lot of myths about sexual assault? What are some of them?

JH: Myth: Men assault impulsively and out of biological need.
Fact: Sexual Assault is a criminal act of violence, using sex as a weapon. Men assault to express hostility and to dominate. Men assault because it allows them to express anger and to feel powerful by controlling another person. Studies show that 50% of sexual assaults are premeditated and well-planned, not impulsive, spontaneous, uncontrollable sexual acts.

Myth: Sexual Assaults are usually reported and people often lie about being assaulted
Fact: Sexual Assault is probably one of the most underreported crimes; researchers estimate that between 50 to 90% of sexual assault cases go unreported. Police statistics show that the number of falsely reported sexual assaults is less than that of other crimes—2%.

Myth: Husbands cannot sexually assault their wives.
Fact: Sexual Assault occurs whenever sexual contact is not mutual/consensual, when choice is taken away. Researchers estimate that sexual assault occurs in 10-14% of all marriages.

Myth: Sexual assault happens to careless people who are "asking for it" by the way they dress or where they are.
Fact: No one asks to be assaulted. All kinds of people, young and old, are sexually assaulted in all kinds of places and at all times.
--- --- ---

Tomorrow I will post Part 3 of the interview