–more cases go undetected, says ChildLink

By Cassandra Khan
ChildLinK, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) has found that almost 1,000 cases of male sexual assault were reported in Guyana between the period of 2013 to 2020.
The abuse occurred to boys between the ages of 12 and 18 but ChildLink believes that there are more cases which go undetected and most are not reported to the authorities.
Speaking at a media training aimed at increasing the knowledge of sexual abuse in males, at the National Library, on Wednesday last, Hasani Tinnie, the Monitoring and Evaluation Manager of the NGO, said that several factors contribute to the under-reporting of sexual abuse in males. Fear, instilled by the perpetrator into the child, is one of the biggest factors.
Others include protecting the family name where parents are aware of the abuse but choose not to report because it would ruin their image, supposedly. Some parents even agree to monetary settlements by the perpetrator leaving him or her to roam freely on the streets and acquire more victims.
The NGO conducted research for the purpose of finding out the social norms and practices which contribute to the sexual abuse of males, as well as the reasons for underreporting. They found that the cultural context of masculinity and self-reliance expected among males is a major factor.
The research was completed in November 2021 and the findings confirmed there is an urgent need to focus on the protection of boys in society.
It was also found in the research that a lack of knowledge about sexual abuse lead to males becoming victims; victim-blaming by parents, communities and society and the notion that boys are expected to protect themselves.
“To protect us or to protect other children, what we need is to have safe relationships… our parents need to take an interest in the people we are with,” Tinnie said.
It was shared that parents should speak with their children’s friends and get to know them.
“We would like to think that children would not want their parents to be involved with their friends or engage with their friends; however, children who are victims of abuse, admitted that parents need to assist in having safe relationships,” Tinnie said.

HARMFUL SOCIAL NORMS
Tinnie explained that 104 persons were engaged during the research; 25 of them were males who were sexually abused and 35 were parents and staff who counselled the children. This core group was referred to the NGO by the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA).
During the research, the NGO discovered that one of the harmful social norms was the lack of affection showed in homes.
“In our homes, our children interpret love as when parents buy things for them, when parents get food and other tangible things for them,” Tinnie said.
As a result, the NGO opined that this places boys at risk for sexual abuse because they can get this affection from the perpetrators.
Lack of supervision was also recognised as a harmful social norm for boys and put them more at risk because it was found that parents allow ‘boys to be boys’ while the same is not extended to the girls. And so, boys can stay out of the house for long periods and hang out with their friends with little to no supervision.
“Even though this is known, the practice of leaving boys unsupervised in outdoor activities still persists, so we have to understand as a society that this places male children at risk of abuse,” Tinnie emphasised.
Additionally, lack of communication in the home between parents and their sons was identified as harmful.
Parents admitted in the research process that they had never spoken to their sons about sexual abuse, most times because it was an uncomfortable conversation or because they never expected it to happen.

EFFECTS OF ABUSE
Tinnie noted that children who have been sexually abused experience a strong sense of fear.
“A child who is battling with fear cannot function as they would previously to the abuse,” he said.
He further stated that when a child is abused, there are a number of effects or implications for that child. In the research conducted, it was found that children are most likely to experience emotional changes which may lead to depression, anger and trust issues and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These can cause nightmares and flashbacks.
It was shared that the self-esteem of the child is also sometimes taken to its lowest point where the child experiences feelings of being a bad person and his self-worth is even adversely affected.
In most cases, the research showed that children are likely to self-isolate; they prefer not to communicate or interact with anyone and unfortunately some die by suicide.
According to the research, children may have challenges in school and with their health especially if they contract sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or sexually transmitted infections (STIs) after being abused.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Tinnie, in his presentation of the research’s report, shared some recommendations to either edify, avoid or deal with sexual abuse.
“Communication between parent and child – children need to have the knowledge to protect themselves and to be aware,” he recommended.
Additionally, he said when speaking about communication, boys must feel comfortable enough to articulate their feelings and they must feel as though they have a safe space to communicate with their parents.
This will encourage them to be more expressive and will contribute to their protection.
Targetted public education programmes were also recommended, as there is a need to change certain perceptions about boys where it is believed that boys are invulnerable to abuse or harm.
“We need society, as a whole, to be aware of the fact that boys are vulnerable to child sexual abuse,” he shared.
Another key recommendation was parental skills training.
“Parental skills training needs to be accessible to parents, so we need government and civil society to ensure that parents have access to parental skills training,” Tinnie said.
Collaboration with the CPA and financial security is another recommendation.
“Because while the research did not establish that financial security or poverty contributes or may be a contributing factor to child sexual abuse, what we found is that because the boys were enticed by tangible things like money from perpetrators, there is a possibility that there is a relationship there,” Tinnie noted.
So, he said, there is need to see how a system can be developed which acknowledges and addresses the financial insecurity of parents given the fact that some parents are willing to accept the alternative of settling or engaging for a settlement with perpetrators.