JUDGE: CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE RAMPANT

The National 16 August 2011

Cases of child abuse and violence against children are becoming widespread in the country, a situation that is said to escalate school drop-out rates, especially among young girls, Goroka based acting judge Martin Ipang said yesterday.

He said that most incidents of child abuse are carried out by familiar people, including close relatives such as uncles, cousins, bubus and step-parents.

It is probably this factor that explains why many cases go unreported, withdrawn from the police and courts. People would rather keep quiet and shield an abuser than report him or her, just for the sake of the so-called necessity of protecting family reputation or family ties.

Judge Ipang said this yesterday in the case of an accused charged  with one count of sexual penetration of a 13 year old niece in Goroka in 2009.

The fact is that an abused child could end up suffering life-long trauma as the result of suffering is swept under the carpet. That is wrong, he said.

The state had told the Court it would present three witnesses, the victim and her parents. Only the victim testified. The parents did not show up though the Court had adjourned twice.

The victim had been sexually assaulted by an uncle. He allegedly threatened to cut her with a bush knife and frightened her with threat of sorcery if she reported the matter.

The distressed victim advised the assault to her mother who then took her to medical centre and then reported the matter to the police.

COMMENT:   AIDS Holistics has reported to this blogspot the problem of young girls having to attend grades 6 to 8 in village primary schools where girls once attended a high school and lived in the security of a dormitory.

The primary schools have no dormitories. The young girls have to stay with families in the villages near the schools. They may suffer sexual abuse from the family men. Primary schools must have dormitories. The only alternative is for the young girls to drop-out.

A report from the Seventh Day Adventist church is that there has been a great increase in young primary school girls becoming pregnant. Universal Basic Education (UBE) is essential for the development of this nation. But it is of limited value to young rural girls.