Immorality at Root of Sexual Assaults

* It is encouraging to hear from Barbara West, in her letter (Oct. 17) responding to my commentary (“Growing Plague of Sexual Assaults,” Oct. 11), of the valuable assistance provided by Community Service Programs’ Sexual Assault Victim Services. This organization, according to West, helps over 1,500 sexual assault victims and their families per year. My article detailed the unfortunate need in Orange County for an organization providing a full and complete range of victim assistance services. In so doing, I wrote about the Orange County Sexual Assault Network, which was recently forced to close its doors due to lack of funding. Before its untimely closure, the network provided services that are currently unavailable to citizens in our community.

Furthermore, West is wrong to believe that the only solution to sexual assault is merely additional funding. As my article stated, I strongly urge our community to financially support organizations that are dedicated to helping sexual assault victims and their families. But money alone will not be any more successful in addressing this issue than it is in improving education.

Hence, the very thesis of my article that West seemed to miss: Sexual assault is an unequivocal tragedy that demands the attention of society’s institutions and all citizens. Only a unified effort can successfully reverse the cultural pathologies that cause individuals to sexually abuse women, children and, yes, even men.

West is correct in stating that sexual assault “has been a part of our history since biblical times.” However, the point is that the incidence of sexual assault has grown exponentially as a result of the moral breakdown brought on by liberal social and judicial policies.

The sexual revolutionaries. The “question authority” crowd. The moral relativists. These are the reasons the problem is much worse now than it was only 30 years ago. The only way to reverse the trend is to return to traditional values, self-discipline and respect for authority.

REP. ROBERT K. DORNAN

R-Garden Grove