Exploiting children in their adolescent storm

Dec 10, 2017 News

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By Dennis Nichols

Not much shocks worldly people anymore; and there’s nothing new under the sun they say.
From the first caveman murder, the carnal excesses of the Roman Empire, the Nazi death camps; and in the aftermath of Jonestown, Rwanda, 9/11, and the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, we seem to have become inured to shock. The bombshell drops, outrage explodes, and then wanes until the next blast.
For the sake of our sanity maybe it’s a practical way to react. But the commission of sex crimes and misconduct should elicit a more enduring response after the initial outrage experienced on hearing or reading about some traumatic abuse, even when, as here in Guyana, we seem to have reached saturation point.
In the past few years there has been an explosion and coming-to-light of dozens of high-profile sex abuse cases/allegations around the world including the media-crazy United States, and of course, our dear land of Guyana.
So here we find a self-styled pope, a pandit, bishop, politician, and now teacher, sharing the media and internet sex-scandal spotlight with big names of alleged notoriety like Bill Cosby, Bill O’Reilly, Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Roy Moore, and of course Donald Trump.
What else do they have in common? Well they all appear to be heterosexual men with female-seeking libidos who, like tens of millions of other apparently intelligent, well-adjusted, successful men around the world, seem unable to reconcile said libido with the law, especially when it involves children and teenagers stumbling through the hormonal gales of adolescence.
It seems that even such supposedly stable individuals have little idea of the painful psychological and emotional effects of sexual abuse on those on whom they prey, particularly children and mid-teens, even though there are instances when the latter are not quite the victims they may appear to be. Nevertheless, psychological and psychiatric intervention should be a given in every case. (In Guyana that may be wishful thinking due to the shortage of these specialists) And this should be not only for the aggrieved party but also the perpetrator, especially in cases where the experts say it may be possible to modify deviant behaviour.
It’s a huge task since research in this field, and MRI scanning, seem to show for example, that the brains of paedophiles who attack children are wired differently from non-offending paedophiles and non-paedophiles or, as Canadian clinical psychologist James Cantor puts, their brains are ‘cross-wired’ so that the sight of children triggers not the normal nurturing instincts but sexual instincts instead.
He controversially concludes that ‘Paedophilia is a sexual orientation … something we are essentially born with, does not appear to change over time, and is as core to our being as any other sexual orientation is.” If it’s indeed so, pause for a moment and think of the implications. But then, as he observes, not all adults who find children sexually attractive are paedophiles. Maybe they are ephebophiles.
Sometime ago, I came across the term ephebophilia – a clumsy word to describe sexual interest in mid-to-late adolescents (older teenagers) and although not stated in the definition, the ‘interested’ party is usually an adult, and in the majority of cases, male. Those on whom such fancy is bestowed may be of either sex between the ages of 15 and 19, according to the experts. They say that unlike paedophilia, it is natural and normal when the one showing the interest or having a preference for mid-to-late adolescent sexual partners is close to that age or in his early-to-mid twenties. The classic example is the young male teacher-attractive female student dynamic.
Some esteemed sexologist/psychiatrists, among them Fred Berlin of Johns Hopkins fame, admit that most men can find persons in the 15 to 19 year age group sexually attractive. But Mr. Berlin caveats that “of course that doesn’t mean they’re going to act on it.”
Bless him, because thousands of young male teachers, for example, would otherwise feel guilt-ridden and dirty for harbouring any immoral thought or feeling towards an attractive 16 year-old under their tutelage. It happens!
Berlin also reminds that mid-to-late adolescents usually have physical characteristics near or in some cases identical to that of fully-grown adults. But of course that’s just one side of the coin. In an identical situation a naïve 16 year-old can find herself emotionally stricken and scarred for life when interest and preference turns to harassment, abuse, or rape. It isn’t hard to imagine that the recent BHS teacher-student expose may well fall somewhere in-between those models.
Here’s another disturbing aspect. From what I’ve heard and read, there must be tens of thousands of adults around the world who act on their sexual attraction to teenagers, and many are not discreet about it.
Not long ago, I saw a photograph online of a middle-aged (or older) man walking down a street in Thailand with a teenaged girl slung over his shoulder – like a bag of some commodity. The accompanying story explained that it was a common occurrence in that country and in some other poor Asian nations where ‘prostitutes’ as young as nine or ten years old, can be cheaply hired for sex by much older men mainly from North America, Europe, and Australia. Women also travel to lesser-developed countries for the same purpose, but their clients are usually young adult men.
It’s called sex tourism – a multi-billion-dollar global industry, (of which a number of Caribbean nations are said to be a part) and a major aspect of it is child prostitution, which falls under the ILO’s umbrella of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC).
Reports are that young children in countries like Thailand and other south-east Asian nations fetch premium rates, as their virginity is considered extremely valuable and may be auctioned off to the highest bidder, sometimes by their parents.
I’m barely scratching the surface here. Although this kind of thing is not perceived to be widespread in Guyana, isn’t it oddly ironic that eventually our children studying for the CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Certificate Examination) could end up as victims of the other CSEC?
Question – Do the thousands of ‘respected’ middle aged professionals who travel to poor developing countries to have sex with children see themselves as paedophiles, particularly when the authorities and even the parents of some children don’t seem to care about the practice? Do teachers (both male and female) who are physically attracted to their high school students see themselves as perverts?
And do those who groom and coerce their students for and into sexual activity after they reach the age of consent see themselves as potential criminals?
With their subjective point of view in mind, I think most will answer ‘No’ some with straight faces; others with self-righteous indignation. That’s how human beings react when the underbelly of the ego and libido is exposed.
Let me tell you an open secret; we humans, moreso men, are ‘animals’ – refined, intelligent, social, and often brutish animals with primal urges that are supposed to be under our control. We are also each other’s companions, lovers, and life partners.
As sensual creatures, sexual attraction and expression are a vital, visceral part of which we are, and sex itself, one of the main driving forces in life. It can and should be an amazing experience. Children, vulnerable and confused, must be allowed to grow into it while being guided through the hormonal storms of adolescence. They are called minors with good reason.

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