There is rampant child sex abuse here

Feb 17, 2010 Editorial

Child sex abuse is more rampant than believed. On Tuesday, news surfaced that three sisters, the eldest being nine years old and the youngest, seven, were in hospital, badly damaged according to the examining doctor.
These girls from an East Coast Demerara village lived with their parents who were both described as drunkards. In addition to being drunkards, the parents were poor and seemed incapable of raising children. They had raised eight, two of whom now live with one relative, and now the three girls.
The mother works as a domestic and the father as a cane cutter. Investigators who visited the home on Tuesday found the remaining three children at home. All were of school age, including the eldest, a 16-year-old who did not seem too bright.
What is shocking is the fact that by their accusations, the children blamed their neighbours, two of them grown men (52 years old and 45 years old). Preliminary investigations revealed that the parents could not care less. They were often too drunk to worry about their children and as one relative put it, they did not care about their children.
In the past, there were schools welfare officers who would have gone to the home the minute the children continued to chalk regular absences from school. They would have seen the conditions under which the children live and where necessary, refer the matter to another department better equipped to handle the situation.
Sad to say, this is not the case today. Children miss classes for an entire term and neither the parent nor the school seem to know or care. There is often no effort on the part of the parents to check on their children and certainly none on the part of the school to seek the presence of the parent. And there is no education officer or welfare person to function in the midst of such shortcomings.
There is more to this situation. There is an old adage that a village raises a child. In this case the village spoilt and damaged the children. There was rampant abuse. One must ask how this could have happened. Usually, in every community there is always someone who refuses to witness indiscretions and remains silent. In this case, it was difficult to find anyone who would testify to the abuse of these children.
The police have detained some of the alleged perpetrators on the accusations of the three girls but the parents remain at large. In most other countries, the parents would have been arrested for negligence and for threatening the welfare of the children. Not so in Guyana. In some countries the authorities would have also removed the remaining children from the home. This has not been the case here.
But there is something that is worrying in all this. There are pedophiles in the smallest of communities. In this case, there are many. And these men sparked younger men to have their way with these little children.
Why do these things happen? It has to do with the perception that any abuse of children would go unreported, that the perpetrators would be allowed to lead their normal lives only to prey on other young children.
In this case the police were very involved. They were in the hospital when the doctor questioned the children. Charges are likely but there is another snag. The state is still trying to pass legislation to allow for paper committals. This would mean that the young victims would not have to tell their story repeatedly before strange people.
However, that law is not yet in force so the child would have to testify, first at the preliminary inquiry. They are not among the most intelligent so clever lawyers will make a mockery of them. Unless the state protects these children they will remain victims and the accused would walk.
For now, the doctor who examined them has them in hospital, contending that they have been badly damaged. He is of the view that they may never be mothers. This is a developing situation and one that the relevant agencies should pursue vigilantly.

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