Barbados may need to consider a sex offenders registry in light of the high number of girls and boys who are being sexually assaulted.
So said child rights expert, Faith Marshall-Harris, as she revealed that several parents whose children were victims of sexual abuse had contacted her about Barbados creating a registry of offenders.
“I have been approached by parents of girls who have been sexually molested, assaulted, even raped and they are increasingly adopting a position where they feel that Barbados needs a sex offenders registry. I know there are many arguments for and against it. A number of persons feel that we don’t need such a registry, we live in a very small society but I am beginning to be persuaded by those parents, because of the nature of the assaults that we’ve seen in recent times,” she stated.
She revealed that in many of the cases which were brought to her attention, the perpetrators were “authority figures”.
“The girls, mainly adolescent girls, their victims, are children under their care – pastoral or quasiparental care and the trauma associated with that is significant because very often, those girls feel totally inhibited about saying or telling anyone what happened to them.
“We have had instances recently where parents have reported to me that where one girl has had the kind of strong support where she felt that she could speak out and therefore get justice, their daughters are then letting them know, I was in the same position, but I didn’t want to say anything. And, or they have called the girl in question and her parents, and said, you know, the same thing happened to us with such and such a person, but we did not feel that we could say anything.”
Marshall-Harris pointed out: “In a particular instance, I noted that it was because of the strong parental support a particular girl had and the relationship that existed led to her achieving some justice but because this is just like a drop in the ocean, it is extremely worrying that the degree of sexual abuse that is occurring of adolescent girls by grown, mature men, and especially authority figures.
Blame
“I stress the adolescent girls because, let me say, I have noticed that the public in their response to stories about the sexual abuse of girls, I’ve noticed a tendency that we are prone to blame them, the victims, because of how they dress, how they behave, how they’ve been inviting unwanted attention but we have to be the grown-ups in the room. They should not have to endure the unwelcome attentions of predatory men, regardless of how they disport themselves.
“Because such men, usually in authority roles, are there to correct and guide those girls. They should be in a position to earn the respect of those girls and you know, we’re very fond of suggesting that the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child is suggesting that there should be no authority over children, this is far from the truth.
“The convention stresses that adults, parents, caregivers, are the primary persons to guide, discipline and correct and children are entitled to that guidance and correction. It stresses that children should obey rules as set out by authority
figures, provided that those rules are in their best interest and not their design to harm them.”
Marshall-Harris further expressed concern that the culprits or people associated with them were also in the habit of trying to pressure persons not to involve the law.
“I feel very strongly about what is happening to girls and boys in terms of abuse in this country. It is really very concerning, the levels of it and the fact that so much of it is hidden and underground. I know of a few cases where the abuse has taken place, the child, the young person in question, has spoken up, and then persons in authority have come to the parents and persuaded them not to proceed, not to bring it to the attention of the courts because they will handle the matter. They will speak to that person.
“It has been brought to my attention, that where the parents said where they have backed off and accepted the advice of these persons who approached them, that they now know that the predator in question has continued the behaviour, continued the abuse with other girls, even as they tried to let the matter be settled.
“I want to say to parents, this matter will not be settled. They cannot back down. Their children must feel that they have had access to justice, that they have had redress, that the matter has been properly investigated.”
She urged parents and adult figures involved to provide their children with all necessary support.
Run away
“They should not feel that they did not get the backing that they should have got from parents and other authority figures, that they have been in a position where they were assaulted, whether it was even a rape or sexual assault and that they did not get justice because the whole thing was swept under the carpet and that sort of trauma, in addition to the trauma of having had the experience, then the additional trauma of feeling you’ve not got justice, that there’s been no redress, lives with them, for many of them, for the rest of their lives.”
In respect to girls running away from home, Marshall-Harris lamented that the condemnation that they hear, when they run away from abuse, was disastrous for them.
“We also must be cognisant that some of them run to abuse, not because, as we have said, they’re “wutless” but because they were groomed by adult men and lured into sexual activity and consequently, they run away from them.
“What is happening is that they have now been taught to welcome the attention of these predatory men and we need, though, to work on reversing that process without re-victimising them” she added. (MB)
