May 7, 2013
Dear Editor,
There is a growing epidemic in out country. Our daughters are under attack. They are being preyed upon by immoral men without conscience. The recent statistics from the Police Department show an alarming increase in the cases of carnal knowledge. Take a quick search if you can on a computer through Channel 5’s website history of “carnal knowledge” and you’ll see how many sickening cases there are in our country.
The most recent and disturbing case is that of a stepfather who raped his 12-year-old daughter and impregnated her. A child having a child! The emotional, physical and psychological damage caused to this child is irreversible. She will be left scarred for life.
If you keep up to date on Facebook, the incredulous comments made by some sick and perverted men in our society actually suggest that it was the child’s fault! A child cannot even begin to understand the sexual act, but I assure you she knows it’s wrong.
The age of consent in Belize is 16 years old. The statutory rape laws are based on the premise that until a person reaches a certain age, that individual is legally incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse, the sex is not consensual.
However, they are some that argue that an age limit cannot be used to determine the ability to consent to sex, since a young teenager might possess enough social sense to make informed and mature decisions about sex, while some adults might never develop the ability to make mature choices about sex, as even many mentally healthy individuals remain naïve and easily manipulated throughout their lives.
Another rationale comes from the fact that minors are generally economically, socially, and legally unequal to adults. By making it illegal for an adult to have sex with a minor, statutory rape laws aim to give the minor some protection against adults in a position of power over the youth.
Regardless of the argument, the fact remains it is illegal to have sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 16 years old. However, many of these cases never make it to court. Many times, the mother changes her mind, the child is made out to look like a liar, or the case falls apart in court.
Our laws are antiquated! In the United States, most states sentence an individual from 20 years to LIFE for the rape of a minor! Yet here in Belize most pedophiles are sentenced to only 5 years to 10 years in prison. The rapist is released like an animal back into our society to prey again on our daughters.
When will our government change our laws and enforce stiffer penalties for these hideous crimes? When will we compile a sexual offenders’ registry in Belize and start to monitor these pedophiles in our communities? What a pity, that our entire nation’s attention is focused on gay rights; lawyers battling to change the laws, yet five more children get raped and no one even blinks an eye! Where are the NGOs for children’s rights? Who will speak for our children and defend them?
Until then, mothers I urge you, talk to your daughters from when they are young about “bad touching” from anyone else other than you or a doctor (in your presence). Encourage them that it’s okay for them to talk to you when they are afraid or uncertain about something. Do not leave them unattended with “uncles”, “stepfathers”, “boy friends”, or “neighbors”.
Advise them not to talk to strangers. If they have been raped, seek counseling for them to heal their emotional and physical scars. Report it to police and become vocal through the media.
Do not turn a blind eye to this sickening epidemic in our country. Our daughters are under attack. I implore you, let’s band together and fight this war for the sake our children.
Regards,
(Please withhold my name)