Child molestation and child sex abuse

The incidence of sexual abuse in institutions should warrant an immediate review of the conditions under which these facilities are required to operate.  The recent reports of child molestation at the New Amsterdam Berbice Anjuman Orphanage signals an underlying psychosocial problem that must be addressed if we are not to attract international opprobrium as is our wont. The fact that this new episode is on a list of similar past incidents indicates that there is disconnect between policy formulation and appropriate implementation.  The situation is certainly not helped by the appearance that these reports have not been taken seriously to the point of bringing offenders to justice. This view is supported by the lethargy that attended the inquiry into the conditions at the New Opportunity Corps a few years ago.  To date the final report with its recommendations remain in a dark hole which probably accounts for the fresh allegations at that facility which in a practicing democracy would have been thoroughly investigated with dispatch. Regardless of the empty rhetoric from officials at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports the fact remains that no serious efforts have been made to correct what obviously is a dysfunctional system. The Camal Children Home on the Corentyne was the first to feature reported cases of maltreatment for 2014. One wonders if the perpetrators take their cue from those matters which have thus far escaped successful prosecution in the courts.  It has been shown that most instances of sexual abuse of children are perpetrated by someone in a position of trust and who may have some temporary or permanent control over the victim(s). The as yet untried matter involving allegations of sexual abuse leveled against a male teacher at the Kitty Boys Orphanage might be one of the reasons for the continuation of these despicable acts.  Of course the April 2010 remarks by a former president could be seen as signifying some confusion with respect to the seriousness to be accorded claims of child abuse when he opined that the extreme abuse in the form of physical violence against children should be the focus and not allow ourselves to be confined to western definitions of abuse.  He obviously ignored the psychological effects of sexual abuse on the victims. During the first quarter of last year, 345 boys and 466 girls were reportedly abused across the country.  An analysis revealed that 69 boys were physically abused, 17 of them sexually.  In the case of the girls 72 of them were physically abused while 120 experienced sexual abuse.  It was also reported that East Coast Demerara had the highest incidence of child abuse. Prior to that there were 1015 child abuse reports for the first quarter of 2010, with 20 per cent physically abused and 15 per cent sexually abused.  There has been at least one case where a policeman was tried before the courts for sodomising a young boy on East Bank Demerara.  Then there was the army Lieutenant who was arraigned in the U.S. on charges of alleged sodomy and child molestation. We cannot forget the senior government functionary who was heard soliciting relations with a young boy.  These incidents represent the tip of a very large iceberg which is seemingly unaffected by the climate of public abhorrence. Public disgust has at times been demonstrated against what might be culturally acceptable in some communities as in the case of child marriages and child labour. Priya Manickchand, as Minister of Human Services and Social Security, took a public stand against child marriages and child labour during 2010 in the Cane Grove community.  Yet we have continuing cases of sexual relationships involving older males and young girls below the age of consent and which sometimes end in murder. We must go much farther than hands wringing when we are bombarded by news of another child raped by a male relative, moreover when the victim is impregnated by that close relative thus placing the chances of that child’s survival of the pregnancy in jeopardy because of age and underdevelopment. We must adopt the stringent measures that have proven effective deterrents when dealing with child molesters and abusers.