Defilement Means The War On HIV/AIDS Is Lost!
- Category: Gender
- Date 12-08-2007
- 264 views
Of late, defilement has become a topmost crime, by far surpassing grave social and economic offences like murder, burglary, assault and vandalism. Hardly a day passes without a case of defilement being reported. Cyclic information shows that children’s caregivers have turned against them: responsible persons like teachers, relatives, neighbours, priests, pastors, caretakers, security officers or motorists are routinely abusing children in their care, often with impunity.
More and more, we realise that people who exploit children sexually happen to be the individuals who should be protecting them. It is painfully clear that because of their innocence and juvenility, children face risks of being hoodwinked into hazardous sexual acts that do not merely endanger their lives but crudely hurt their moral values and lifetime prospects. Defilement is perhaps the most vicious enemy against today’s youngsters and a severe form of violence.
The most unfortunate thing is that a large percentage of defilers are persons who are basically entrusted to look after the children who are socially challenged: orphaned, abandoned, employed, illiterate, or from poverty-infested households. In a majority of cases, incest, sodomy and defilement are committed against children by people with authority, whom the children have been taught to trust and respect. They also look to them for protection in case of any danger.
With such a type of offenders, children are normally taken by surprise and, very often, do not know how to react or what to do to protect themselves. It can be most confusing and upsetting when the person a child expects to defend them initiates violence against the very child. Studies show that most cases of child abuse are usually committed during the day, within the home or neighbourhood and at school or church. Whereas there are places perceived as risky like bars or lonely streets, child abuse cases are possibly scarcer around such locations than in perceived “safe zones”.
As a consequence, sexually abused children rarely come out in the open to report the violence because it would require them “embarrassing” their “guardians”. Besides, children need support and guidance to gain the courage to complain against their sexual exploiters and communicate their grievances to the relevant authorities for action. Children need assurance that to report abuse is the correct course of action, which is not dangerous but advantageous.
The few defilement incidents reported to the police, local leaders and the media are only a tip of the iceberg. Masses of defilers go unreported and are sometimes protected by communities, including victims. Early Marriages, teen pregnancies, abortions, and adolescent fornication are common manifestations of sexual violations against young people. In many cases however, children are led to “cooperate” with their abusers and thus the crime remains concealed.
The clear challenge for us, therefore, is to design adequate programmes for increasing access to information to help the young to break the chains of silence against sexual abuse. There is great need to scale up campaign programmes that seek to increase access to information on the rights of children so as to boost young people’s confidence and self-esteem, to promote and defend their welfare.
Defilement is at times encouraged by bizarre convictions. Some people think that having unprotected sex with virgin minors can bring miracle healing to individuals with HIV/AIDS. This means that merely reporting sexual abuse is not enough to curb the problem due to the high exposure of the victims to HIV/AIDS and STD infection.
Increasing cases of defilement have the potential to overturn the significant gains made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, since abusers might infect minors with STIs, which greatly facilitates the transmission of HIV/AIDS. Prevention of the spread of transmission among children is vital if the fight against HIV/AIDS is to be won. There is need for a strengthened campaign amongst children and adults on how to prevent defilement and the dangers of HIV/AIDS.
By Venansio Ahabwe
Source: Peering Eye, Sunday Citizen