"Do you know what rape is like, and to scream and no one hears you?" Envision this, knowing this happens within our sacred text the Bible, and still happens today. Why do we not learn from our past? Is it that our cultural norms blinds, mutes and deafens ' our senses to what is said, to that of what is not said in our Biblical text? In this paper I am removing the scales from my eyes, the deafness in my ears and silencing of my mouth to let the passage speak to me. In hopes to convict my heart of those cultural norms that shape my thinking may give away to pay greater attention to the silent voices of women in larger text. For example, 2 Samuel 13:14 "But he would not listen to her; and being stronger than she, he forced her, and lay with her." Although in its larger context, this pericope focuses on the succession of …show more content…
2003. Studies show that a lifetime rate of rape and attempted rape for all women is 17.6%. I had chosen to add the children 's rate of 29% for the age range 12-17, due to the fact that Tamar was around 15 years old when Amnon raped him. 93% of juvenile sexual assault victims know their attacker, U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2000 Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement. 2000. Thus the case for Tamar. Albeit that during the era, it was common if not encouraged, particularly in royal families to ensure, for instance, that any claims to the throne kept in the family. Nonetheless, in today 's figures "44% of victims are under the age of 18, and 80 % are under the age of 30. Every 107 seconds an American woman is a victim of sexual assault, and every year in America there are approximately 293,000 reported victims of sexual assaults. 68% of sexual assaults go unreported to the police, and 98% of rapists will never spend more than one day in jail or prison. What is also startling is, someone the victim knows commits approximately 4 out of 5 assaults, and 47% of the rapists are friends or