Coping with a growing sex problem

Nov 26, 2009 Editorial

Sex seems to be dominating the minds of adult men and young women at this time. Scarcely a day goes by without there being a report of some men being implicated in rape.
In some cases the rape is an imposition of a man on his victim as was the case of the three policemen who had their way with a young girl they happened to arrest for wandering.
But there are other cases of willing participation. Last week there were two occasions of schoolgirls being caught in the act with grown men in the Botanical Gardens. This could have been excused had the situation not been so serious. Many of these young women come from homes where the economic situation is not good enough to allow them luxury items.
As a result, they seek these luxuries and they latch on to anyone who could satisfy the want. Invariably these are grown men who have that bit of a disposable income.
But there are those young women who crave a father figure. These are the most vulnerable and therefore more prone to be victims of sexual abuse.
And even as there is this predatory behaviour on the part of grown men there is the threat of HIV infections among the young population. Desperate young girls are most certainly prone to sacrificing safety for their wants. These are the young people who now account for a significant percentage of people infected with HIV in Guyana.
They in turn often turn to men in their age group for lasting relationships and the infection spreads because the young men, with raging hormones, sow their royal oats with gay abandon and the poets of yore would say.
Last week, during the National Week of Testing, the authorities discovered at least one individual who was a mere eighteen years old and who felt that he had been given a death sentence. This is often the result of promiscuity which is naturally common among young people the world over.
We have had cause to examine this issue in some detail and we were surprised at the low level of convictions in the courts.
It turns out that in nearly every case the victim refuses to testify against the accused because of the nature of the courts and because of being forced to relive the experience by way of cross examinations and because of tolerant judges and magistrates.
A few years ago, there were moves to introduce sex education in schools. The view was that by exposing the children to the possible pitfalls and by making them understand their emotions, the young people would have been in a position to exercise even greater control.
However, parents had other ideas. The result is that many parents are shocked out of their minds. They hear reports of their young children and they either refuse to believe or they sit helplessly and lament.
There are parents who at this stage shirk their responsibility and seek state intervention. Quite a few have demanded that their young children be placed in one of the corrective institutions for young people. Others, the more affluent, simply shipped the problem overseas.
Given that the problem of sex and sex abuse seems to be increasing the state needs to adopt measures that could halt the situation. There is need for more social services and greater law enforcement.
Legislation is on the cards that would protect the victims in the courts. Some of those fighting the problem feel that this cannot come soon enough.
The support, though, must come from the law enforcers and these seem equally inclined to get involved in the sex acts by preying on the young.
Three of them in Berbice and one in the city this past week tells the story of the sad state of affairs.

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