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A societal canker
Jan 28, 2012 Editorial
Child molestation is not new to the society. In the past they went largely unreported because the society was so embarrassed that such people actually lived between them. Societies at large always insist that children are the future and that every child was precious.
Sociologists always record the ceremonies societies would hold for children. Some would perform elaborate ceremonies to welcome the child and the extent of the elaboration would vary from culture to culture. Even the most sophisticated society would hold elaborate ceremonies followed by parties. These ceremonies are called christenings.
The late Alex Haley, in his book ‘Roots’, was at pains to detail the ceremony that heralded Kunta Kinte’s entry into the world. That was his christening.
Societies also hold elaborate ceremonies when the child passes from childhood to adulthood. In the western world there are the ‘Sweet 16’ parties. In the less sophisticated societies there are numerous rites of passage. Some societies send the young man into the world where he must confront whatever hostility there is.
But before this stage is reached the society protects its children. There is a saying that it takes an entire village to raise a child and so it was that there were societies in which entire villages kept an eye on a child, monitored its every move and ensured its protection.
Times have changed. Societies seem to have abandoned children. We see children in increasing numbers begging on the streets or sleeping on the pavements and sidewalks. We see children absenting themselves from school and parents simply ignoring this feature of their development.
Just this past week we noted an apparent trend of very young girls becoming pregnant, some of them barely past puberty. This was a situation that occurred in certain communities. Prior to independence the law allowed parents to marry their young daughters, some at the age of thirteen. The law allowed for such. However, the emergence of the child molesters saw the nation registering its disgust and forcing the lawmakers to increase the age of consent.
This is not stopping men from impregnating young girls in the hinterland. Where are the mothers and fathers? Where is the village or the community?
There are laws for anyone who violates the rights of children but these do not seem to be deterrent enough. Children deserve to grow, to be children, but increasingly people keep going after little children. At present there is an investigation of a religious leader who is said to have molested more than half-a-dozen boys.
This man must have won the trust of many others and one must now wonder whether there are others who suffered at his hands but never came forward because of shame. In Berbice there is the case of a sick man who took a five-year-old girl from her sleeping bed and sexually molested her. Today, the child is so traumatized that no man or boy for that matter can go close to her. She hides.
There was the case of the street children who were picked up and taken away by people in a car only to be sexually molested and dumped at another location. No one was ever arrested although people saw the perpetrators. The children had no recourse to justice.
That is why a particular case of molestation is generating anger. For days now there were reports of child molestation. The police became involved and they questioned the victims before arresting the perpetrator. But they proceeded to release the perpetrator after a few hours.
More allegations surfaced. There were medical reports; the perpetrator was arrested again and again released without being made to face the courts. Why is this? Surely the police cannot tell the nation that they need more evidence. They have medical certificates showing penetration; they have the children who implicated the man; and they have information on dates and times the molestation occurred.
What more is needed? Perhaps we want to promote child molestation. Perhaps some people are immune from prosecution. Perhaps the society is becoming immune to incidence of child molestation.
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