Time to fight incest

WHAT sort of father in his right frame of mind would sexually abuse his daughter.
Of all people, that a daughter can turn to because of the trust that he is her father, he betrayed that trust and instead satisfies his sexual hunger on a vulnerable child.
Over the past couple of weeks, there has been numerous news reports of children in PNG being sexually assaulted by father, grandfathers, brothers, cousins and stepfathers.
Reading the news articles and reports was indeed stomach-cringing and makes one feel nauseated.
The most recent case reported was last week where a father and his wife have been committed to stand trial at the national court for sexually abusing the man’s daughter.
There is clearly something wrong and we must be brave enough to admit that something has to be done.
It is most disturbing for the girls who look up to their fathers, grandfathers, brothers and uncles for protection, love and care end up being assaulted by them.
Most of the time, family members are complicit in concealing such incidents for fear on embarrassment and due to economic factors.
Despite the numerous reports that have been made in the past couple of months, we are certain there are many cases that continue to go unreported.
Besides the physical trauma that is caused to a young child, the mental trauma is also equally or possibly more painful.
The psychological effects of being assaulted by someone one looks up to as a protector will caus lasting damage.
Victims of sexual crimes tend to suffer from low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts and sometimes even see themselves as being in the wrong and all of this is compounded by the fact that the perpetrator is a family member.
We believe we need a multi-faceted approach to tackle this menace.
We need a better framework for helping victims and engendering a more conducive environment that will encourage victims of such crimes to report such abuses. We must not blame the victims but the perpetrators. We need to provide victims with psychological help they need to overcome the trauma.
Family members should stand up for the victims and encourage them to report these crimes. Family members should not protect the perpetrators. Family members should name and shame those who commit such crimes and not worry about feeling embarrassed because the only person in the wrong is the person committing the crime but if there is a cover-up then the family members doing so should be blamed as well.
The government recently implemented a more complete legal architecture to deal with sexual crimes against children.
With a dedicated police unit as well to deal with such crimes, victims now should be encouraged to report such crimes because the law is in the right place.
It is heart-breaking to see family members sexually assault their children and abuse their children and forever destroy their lives.
It is time to combat the evil called incest. We believe that there can be no justification for such immoral acts.
Men with voracious sexual desires that knows no boundaries to the extent of sexually preying on their own children or anyone else’s for that matter should face the full fury of the law.