THE only way adults should look at children is with eyes of loving concern and a need to safeguard them; and see them grow into healthy, level-headed, respectable adults. However, some adults look at children in the wrong way; their minds are warped and depraved.
They molest and sexually abuse children in their families and communities without fear of reprimand or prosecution. They know what they are doing is wrong but have no concern for the welfare or well-being of the child. Their debased satisfaction is all that matters. Family members who turn a blind eye or brush the matter under the carpet are also guilty of child sexual abuse. They are able-bodied adults who know the law yet, fail to protect children.
Last year over 1,121 children (boys and girls) were sexually abused in Guyana. This number signifies the cases reported to the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) from regions across Guyana, (which is 1,121 too many). For each reported case, you can be sure there is at least one other case of child sexual abuse somewhere out there, right now, behind closed doors.
Why are children seen as sexual fodder by some adults and not the young, naive beings they are? Why do these predators fail to protect children and choose to abuse them instead? –causing havoc to a child’s developing mind and over-shadowing young lives with the trauma of sexual abuse.
There is a natural order to things in life, and most people know the support, encouragement and affection that growing children need from their parents or carers. These and other factors, such as education and learning morals and values, help children become independent, fair-minded adults. Child sexual abuse prevents, provokes and pollutes that natural order.
Sexually abused children cannot undo what has befallen them – it is with them for life. Some sexually abused children are too young to speak out about their ordeal, or they may think sexual molestation is the norm; how things are meant to be, they don’t know any better. Children rely on adults to guide them through life’s journey. It is a sad state of affairs when those very adults that children trust and look up to, exploit them in the most perverted and immoral way possible.
When children appear promiscuous or force-ripe, people tend to blame the child for their forward manner and behaviour. Little do people know what children are exposed to over the years and its impact on them. They may have witnessed adults having sex or heard and seen things that were way before their time. Adults thrust children into a sexual world -sometimes deliberately and sometimes by design and poor parenting.
Some adults believe there is no harm done when they sit and watch X-rated movies with children nearby. The children know what is going on; they can peep at the movie with little reprimand or gain access to the same when left alone. Even if the adults say, ‘Don’t come in here! This is not for you; this is big people thing’. Their words have little weight. Encouraging children to watch anything with sexual content, pictures, social media, movies etc., is child sexual abuse and a chargeable offence.
Some adults blame children for incidents of sexual abuse. They find ways to make the child feel guilty, as if the child ‘wanted’ sex and got what they deserved. Children grow up feeling worthless, dirty and used; they think they are different from their peers because they instigated and partook in sexual activity. Sly adults can get children to believe negative things about themselves for their purpose.
In some cases, mothers turn on their daughters, taking the perpetrator’s side and alienating their child. They fail to see the responsibility is the adults’, not the child’s. Many adolescent girls live with the traumas of sexual abuse and parental abandonment, which makes coming to terms with the abuse and moving on twice as difficult. When abused children have people who listen to them and family members who offer support, it helps the healing process.
All aspects of child sexual abuse are distasteful. The thought of the perpetrator; the innocence of the child; the act; the secrecy; the unseen scars and victim’s anguish; and mental burden. The crime is even more appalling when the child is a baby who cannot talk and has barely begun to live life.

One can only hope that younger children will not remember their ordeal and the perpetrator will receive their karma – as will all those who condone and participate in harming children’s lives in this heinous manner. Advocate centres are establishments especially designed for children of sexual abuse. An abused child can talk about his ordeal to a trained counsellor in one room, while a policeman and a child advocacy officer attend the session in another.
The recorded session is available for future use, e.g. in court or other proceedings. Children usually feel a sense of relief after they have spoken about their ordeal, and follow-up sessions with counsellors are available. Once the session is over, the child does not have to tell his story again (evoking trauma and reliving his anguish).
Some adults need to readjust the way they view and treat children. They need to learn more about child development and their role in assisting the child. Children do not lie about sexual abuse, especially when they tell on someone they know and love. Every child has the right to grow up in a loving family, free from harm, discrimination and abuse.

If you are concerned about the welfare of a child, call the CPA hotline on 227 0979 or write to us at childcaregy@gmail.com
A MESSAGE FROM THE CHILDCARE AND PROTECTION AGENCY,
MINISTRY OF HUMAN SERVICES AND SOCIAL SECURITY