Pinwheels for Child Abuse Prevention | Photo by Shawna Keyes via Wikimedia Commons
Peace will likely never come to the world until violence against children- physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual- comes to an end. This heinous crime against vulnerable children is a violation of human rights. It creates life-long suffering, anguish, and pain that last into adulthood. The memories are hard to eradicate; they shape and influence character and personality, making victims be who they are.
Many victims endure memories of abuse and are resilient, brave, courageous, and become good, virtuous adults. They can be violent and even become influential leaders and tyrants, killing thousands with impunity, such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, and many more. However, other victims can become negative, vengeful, and cruel, lacking empathy and compassion.
Children feared adult anger if they complained and accused their abusers. Millions of adults have never reported the childhood abuse they experienced. They endure the buried pain throughout their lives and are re-victimized by society that stigmatizes and shames victims, even blaming them for being abused.
Most victims, it seems, cannot trust adults or the justice system. They fear they will not believe them, and instead, they punish them for reporting their sexual abuse. Child abuse is a secret crime. A child’s word against that of a more intimidating powerful adult carries little credibility. That is more true if their abusers are people in authority or clerics.
Why is it that the sensitive reality and truth of childhood abuse is shunted aside by society? It is seldom discussed and nearly always avoided and denied. It is hidden in families, dismissed by people in authority, covered up by leaders of institutions, and even by church authorities and ministers. All too often, it is ignored and not treated as a top priority as it should be, being a heinous crime.
This situation is actual today, but there is hope as it is slowly changing in some places. In this #MeToo generation, more victims are reporting abuse. The media, some law enforcers, good prosecutors, and the courts are responding and implementing the hard-won laws to hold abusers to account. However, it is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
“Why is it that the sensitive reality and truth of childhood abuse is shunted aside by society? It is seldom discussed and nearly always avoided and denied. It is hidden in families, dismissed by people in authority, covered up by leaders of institutions, and even by church authorities and ministers.”
The #MeToo movement has opened up the subject to the public. Some victims get help, and more non-government organizations (NGOs) offer support and shelter. Still, few have a healing therapy to empower and give legal action to get justice for the victims and jail for the abusers to prevent more children from being abused. The Preda Foundation offers full protection for victims, therapeutic services, legal action, healing, and empowerment. The children win an average of 16 convictions a year against their abusers.
However, prevention through public awareness-building is essential. Considering that one in every three girls and one in six boys suffer childhood sexual abuse, the number of victims is enormous.
So, why the denial and cover-up and reluctance to be transparent about the truth? Perhaps, society is utterly ashamed that human beings sexually abuse their children. Perhaps, they know it is the most reprehensible, despicable, shameful crime that a human can commit, and it is a life-long experience that hurts and harms the child into adulthood.
We must also know that the pain of abuse, rejection, and denial of love in childhood causes anger, pain and hatred, and a powerful desire for revenge. Some victims that get no help may become people with violent tendencies. They can direct their anger and hatred against innocent people and become adult killers and perpetrators of human rights violations, torture, and massacres. They can become psychopaths perhaps but are adults who have suffered themselves and can vent their pent-up anger and hatred on others through acts of violence. Even child abuse does not remove or excuse responsibility for evil deeds.
“Throughout the centuries, child abuse was common, and there were few laws to protect the victims. Christian churches and other religions that have tolerated and covered up sexual abuse of children ignored it.”
Some, like Adolf Hitler, caused the Holocaust and brutally killed millions of Jews and others. He endured child abuse. His father was a cruel, punishing, authoritarian, aggressive father. At one time, he beat his son 32 times, and the boy did not cry, believing bravery was to endure pain. Genghis Khan, the most brutal killer of civilians in all history, was abused as an enslaved child. Joseph Stalin, a mass murderer, was an abused child, too. These psychopaths and many more were the perpetrators of violence, massacres, and wars. It takes only one to rise to a position of political or military power to destroy the peace, wreck violence on a whole nation, and lead them to a world war.
Throughout the centuries, child abuse was common, and there were few laws to protect the victims. Christian churches and other religions that have tolerated and covered up sexual abuse of children ignored it. It was Jesus of Nazareth that was the first to declare the dignity and rights of the child to be loved and cared for and to have justice and the abuser to be held to account (Matthew 18:1-7).
In the past thirty years since the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, child protection laws have been passed in various countries protecting children from abuse and human trafficking. It was historical, and this writer was privileged to be part of the delegation from NGOs that participated in the drafting conference in Helsinki.
The Philippine Senate recently passed new and improved anti-trafficking law amendments. The latest is Senate Bill 2449 and is very welcome.
Section 9 of the Senate Bill holds the persons in authority in the Telecommunication Corporations and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) responsible for allowing, enabling, and making it possible for children groomed, seduced, trafficked, and abused online. It removes the contradiction in law used by the ISPs because they do not obey RA 9775 to install blocking software to stop child abuse images and human trafficking promotions from passing through their facilities and servers.
This amendment in Senate Bill 2449 means they will have to install the blocking software to prevent their facilities from promoting child abuse or trafficking. The ISPs must provide all information on any customer’s account when ordered to do so by a judge. The fine for not doing so will be from 2 million to 5 million pesos for every offense by the ISPs. Also, they can charge the CEO of the ISPs.
We need now for the House of Representatives to pass their version of the expanded law without further delay.
