SL: CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE: SERIOUS PROBLEM!!

Child sexual abuse must be stopped now!
Lionel WIJESIRI

Recently we celebrated the Universal Children's' Day. The talks delivered and the articles written for the event told us a few interesting facts about our children:

(a) of our total population 24 per cent are children.

(b) 40,000 of our children do not go to school,

(c) there are over 2000 child prostitutes in the country and most of them are boys,

(d) there are 4500 street children,

(e) 10 per cent of our children are under-nourished.

Yet, that day we forgot to discuss one more important subject related child welfare - child abuse, particularly child sexual abuse.

It is reported that the rate of child sexual abuse in Sri Lanka has seen a steep rise this year with 866 cases reported to the Women and Children's Bureau up to May alone. Of this, 156 have been classed as sexual exploitation, 196 as grave sexual abuse, 346 as rape and 168 as other kinds of sexual abuse. Conservative analysts believe the figure will top up 2000 by the end of the year. Compare these figures with what happened 5 - 7 years ago. In 2001 there had been 108 incidents which increased up to 194 in 2002 and the figure went up to over 200 in 2003.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. We must remember that these are only the cases of sexual abuse reported. Not all the cases of sexual abuse are reported either due to the fear of the children or the disbelief and non acceptance by elders.

The other day, I was reading a stimulating article captioned "Is your child safe?" written by an Indian Medical Professor who says if you want to safeguard your child from abuse, you should investigate groups in which your child will be spending a great deal of his time. The reality is, according to him, sexual abuse of children happens all too often in places you assume are safe.

"It's very difficult to screen for pedophilia. Most pedophiles don't look like sick people. They seem like good people," he says.

A. Nicholas Groth, Ph.D., a US clinical psychologist who has treated sexual molesters, agrees. "Very often these people get outstanding evaluations as neighbours, teachers, as coaches. Everyone thinks they're great."

History
In Sri Lanka, child abuse research began exposing sexual abuse of children as a problem of sizable proportions in the early 1990s. A study done in 1991 estimated that there were 36,000 boy prostitutes in the country. By 2003 it was estimated that 10,000 to 12,000 children from rural areas were trafficked and prostituted by organised crime groups to paedophiles staying at various seedy seaside hotels.

In 1998, the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) was set up under the direct control of the President. The NCPA was given the authority to enter any premises, including hotels that came under suspicion of child abuse. The NCPA were also given their own police officers and lawyers to combat this problem.


Children need support and care

In 2000, the NCPA formed a 'National Child Protection Action Plan' that focused mainly on the prevention of child abuse, increasing child protection, making legal reforms and strengthening law enforcement. It also dealt with child rehabilitation and reintegration. Under this plan, a `child abuse' desk was set up in various police stations for citizens to report any cases or suspicions.

Police officers were trained on how to handle situations of abuse and exploitation.

In 2004 a three-year action plan was set to prevent all kinds of child abuse, child sexual abuse and child sexual harassment in the country under the supervision of Inspector General of Police. One aspect of the plan was to concentrate on the preventive measures and the other aspect would be on inquiries. A new hotline number was introduced so that the public could report such complaints to the police through this hotline.

Sexual guilt
Authorities have found out that we cannot arrive at definite conclusions about the child sexual abuse in our country because the children often fail to report due to the fear that disclosure will bring consequences even worse than being victimised again.

The child may fear consequences from the family, feel guilty for consequences to the perpetrator, and may fear subsequent retaliatory actions from the perpetrator. Children may also have a feeling that "something is wrong with me," and that the abuse is their fault, or they may be embarrassed or reluctant to answer questions about the sexual activity.

Psychoanalysts say that the victims of sexual abuse frequently experience feelings of shame, guilt, embarrassment, and inadequacy.

According to them, in addition to "sexual guilt," there are seven other types of guilt associated with the abuse, which include feeling different from peers, harbouring vengeful and angry feelings toward both parents, feeling responsible for the abuse, feeling guilty about reporting the abuse, and bringing disloyalty and disruption to the family. Any of these feelings of guilt could outweigh the decision of the child to report, the result of which is the secret may remain intact and undisclosed.

Although public awareness has been raised in Sri Lanka by media advertisements and community programs during the past two decades, research has revealed that the pervasive secrecy of child sexual victimisation continues at an alarming rate. The questions remain unanswered regarding the current extent of non-disclosure and the effectiveness of preventive programs in reducing sexual victimisation.

Why haven't the educational and preventive programs implemented in our communities extensively not been very successful? Researchers identify some of the reasons for disappointing results as:

(a) elusive subject matter:

(b) difficulty in transference of learning to real life events;

(c) a very subtle approach by the offender;

(d) erosion of learning over time; and

(e) many programs are not geared to the knowledge level of the community.

Adults' responsibility

‘Abuse of children may happen in places you assume are safe’

Simply exposing children to a long list of prevention strategies does little to reduce the superior knowledge, strength and skill of the adult offenders, some of whom have had a great deal of experience sexually abusing many children in their career. Offenders will not be put off by a program that directs children to say no and stomp on their foot. We must increase the external obstacles that help prevent the offender from getting close to the child. We must do whatever is in our power, no matter how small a dent it might make in the problem, to screen out those individuals who have a sexual motive in wanting to get close to our children.

Parents need to be aware of the way abusers operate, particularly the grooming process through which they select and gain control over their young victims. About three-fourths of the children had known the offender for at least one year before the abuse began.

In the course of enticing the child into sexual contact, the offender used various measures such as bribery and games as well as threats of abandonment, rejection and physical harm.

It is clear that the struggle between sexual offender and the child is one in which most factors are weighted heavily on the side of the offender. Superior knowledge, strength, and skill will not be easily overcome by children. This fact should revitalize prevention efforts.

Why do we put the responsibility for protection solely on the child? Aren't we expecting too much from our children? Isn't it the real responsibility of us to help protect children from sexual abuse?