By Tigidankay “Tida” Kamara
In 2018, 2,579 minors were sexually abused, according to statistics from the Family Support Unit of the Sierra Leone Police. In the first half of 2019, the Rainbow Centre received 1,966 sexual assault cases at their five centres. Most of them children. These figures represent only the reported cases. In a country where sexual abuse cases are rarely reported, the number is likely to be much higher.
In February of this year, President Julius Maada Bio made headline news around the globe when he declared a national emergency on rape and the sexual penetration of minors. He is the first President in the world to have taken this bold step.
Appalled by the steady spike in the rise of child sexual assault cases, the President, amongst other measures, announced life imprisonment for perpetrators. Many had hoped the proclamation, besides serving as a much needed punitive measure, would also serve as a deterrent for potential perpetrators.
But as sexual abuse cases of minors continue to soar, it is evident that the severity of the punishment has not served as an effective tool in dissuading would-be offenders.
In the months following the declaration, four minors have died due to sexually-related incidents. One of such cases was an 18-month-old baby. She was raped, had her limbs broken, and murdered. Earlier this month, a 7-month-old baby also died as a direct result of injuries sustained during her assault.
But for those minors who do not meet their untimely death, they are left grappling with the damaging effects of their grisly attack. Such was the case of a 5-year-old who was left paralyzed after being raped by her uncle.
And just last week, reports came through of an 8-year-old girl who had been sexually penetrated by a 48-year-old man. She is currently receiving treatment for rectovaginal fistula. So pervasive is this issue that three days ago, on the 13th July 2019, the BBC’s Umaru Fofana reported the rape of another girl, a six-year-old, who resided in the same chiefdom as that of the 8-year old. The suspect remains at large.
There is a problem, and in a country where resources are limited, understanding this menace is the first step in taking measures to minimise it.
Paedophiles exist. Everywhere. They are men and women with a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Within this category of paedophillia are sub-types, such as infantophilia and hebephilia, which describes those with a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to children below the age of five and pubescent children, respectively.
When we hear cases of babies, toddlers, and adolescents being raped, we cringe in horror and recoil in disgust. We are usually unable to fathom how anyone could do anything so monstrous, all the while forgetting or failing to acknowledge that there are people who are, repugnantly, sexually attracted to children.
And if the Catholic Church or the Jimmy Saville sexual abuse cases taught us anything, it was that paedophiles come from all strata of society; they could be lawyers, journalists, doctors, priests, imams, teachers, lecturers, a friend, a family member, a neighbour or your unemployed, uneducated Bob living down the street from you. And they can be women, too! More chances than not, a child gets molested by someone he or she knows.
While medical evidence predominately suggests that paedophillia is innate, most worrying of all is that it has no cure. Welcoming though is that not all paedophiles are child molesters. Some act on their urges, others do not.
But while some countries take proactive steps to help curb the desires of those who may later seek to act on their urges — through Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or voluntary and involuntary chemical castrations — reaching out to potential offenders in the same manner in Sierra Leone seems far-fetched.
The unavailability of resources for therapy, the lack of confidentiality guarantee for those who may choose to seek help, and the fear of social disapproval will serve as barriers in dealing with this issue from that angle.
The Way Forward:
To keep minors safe from sexual abuse, we must talk openly and honestly about paedophillia and other forms of child sexual abuse. We must educate and empower parents, guardians, caregivers, and children, arming them with the necessary knowledge and safeguarding methods. It involves informing children that when it comes to their bodies, they should never be hushed into secrecy by a third party, no matter the level of terror or blackmail employed by the predator to buy their silence. Because while we might hear of the sudden nature of these assaults and presume that child molesters act instantaneously, research suggests otherwise. Paedophiles and child molesters are adept at grooming, at using guile and ruses to achieve their aims. They build trust with a child and/or their parents. And in doing so, they cleverly weave themselves into the child’s life before doing the unthinkable.
Combating it proactively also means accepting the reality of paedophilia; that it does exist, is innate and incurable. It means not leaving babies unattended, and not allowing our children to roam around freely in our compounds and on the streets without adequate adult supervision. It also means not tasking our children to be petty-traders and hawkers, slogging away wares and produce until dusk, leaving them vulnerable and open to exploitation by predators. Because when a person with a proclivity for committing this offence marries it with opportunity, they do and will pounce, to devasting effects.
Only by having open and frank discussions with children can we combat the paedophile’s cunning stratagems. We must also strive to daily reinforce into our children the notion that they can talk to us about anything, without judgement or blame. And that if someone touches them inappropriately or makes them feel uncomfortable, they can always confide in us.
I thought back on how important this point was when the story of the 8-year-old rape victim spread. In a single day, she was raped three times in the bushes by a 48-year-old man. For each time she bled, she was asked by her predator to cleanse herself in the near-by stream, after which he proceeded to rape her, anew. Following the assault, she went home and never said a word to anybody. Had a neighbor not seen her bleeding the following day as she bathed in the stream, we likely would have never learned of this incident. The narration made me wonder about the likely number of little girls and boys who are harboring secrets of the abominable acts done to their bodies. Who have not built up the courage to speak up, deciding instead to soldier on in silence, alone, as they try to make sense of what has happened to them.
While these recommendations won’t serve as a panacea, we cannot continue to use reactive measures in dealing with this issue. Nor can we continue to ignore the reality of what the nation is confronting. Sierra Leoneans need to accept that paedophilia is not exclusive to any single race of people, nor can it only be found within the confines of a single country. It exists everywhere, and the sooner we come to terms with this singular reality, the quicker and more proactively we will act in protecting our children.
About the author: Tigidankay Kamara is a lawyer and occassional writer based in the United Kingdom. She writes on governance, law, children's rights, and gender issues.
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