Dear Editor,
It takes women to understand the suffering that our children undergo when they become victims of sexual abuse, and it will take women to make significant changes in all of the abovementioned judiciary domains.
It has been proven that women will not stand for this dispassionate attitude that has been displayed by members of the judiciary chain, who have refused to apply the full extent of the law with regard to sexual abusers of minors. After all, it is their kind who is forever inflicting this horrendous crime on our children, and so they have remained detached from the situation until it happens to one of their own.
The most precious gift one could ever give to children is to allow them to grow up in an environment that offers them the freedom to be who they are. To take away their innocence and have them experience being women and men is an atrocity that should not be tolerated in this so-called Christian society.
There is nothing in the world that can substitute for the joy of childhood. Here is where the formation of an individual takes place and if children are constantly living in pain, what would their adult life be like? Their childhood is just a mirror of their adult life that will be filled with promiscuity, mood swings, depression and a host of other problems. As I have said before, no amount of counselling can compensate for what these children have lost.
Sexual abuse of minors is taken much too lightly on St. Maarten and that is why molesters do what they want, because they have analyzed the judiciary system and are using the loopholes to continue their underground profession.
The system is to be blamed for this continual cruelty to our minors. I will repeat myself, children are not supposed to be subjected to re-live their ordeal through court proceedings, just to prove that they were sexually molested. The system needs to change! This drawn-out and embarrassing process, not forgetting the input of these unscrupulous lawyers, is what has contributed to the covering up of this horrendous crime that has been festering for decades.
We need women at the helm of these judicial institutions, who will take an impartial stand, but who are also willing to dig deeper into the situation to find out more than what meets the eye. The Court of Guardianship is an area in which we have seen tremendous change, compared to what it replicated in previous years. It is because we now have a Department Head, Richelda Rodriguez - Emmanuel, who will not tolerate the injustices that are imposed on our minors.
However, the avenue to expose sexual abuse of minors has to be expanded. It is not enough to ask persons to report the matter to designated headquarters. This format it is not the easiest way for persons who might be afraid to do so. Personally, I believe that our community police would be an excellent source of information, by them conducting random and consistent investigations on the matter.
In my opinion, when community officers are assigned to a district, they should be scouring the neighbourhood, in the same manner in which politicians canvassed the various districts during the recently-held Parliamentary Election. When these officers approach the community this way, they have a better idea of its dynamics, and people would be more inclined to release the information.
I am not in favour of having one police officer per district. Instead, there should be at least three to insure better protection of both the officer and the people; to offer the community a choice to select the officer to whom they feel comfortable to divulge the information and for the purpose of checks and balances. In addition, there should be a specially trained unit within the police force to deal with cases of sexual abuse of minors.
Furthermore, the people must be comfortable enough to speak out on this issue, with the confidence that they have the full backing of the judiciary system. There is absolutely no use that the community pours out its heart against this evil, only to be confronted with a judiciary system that appears to constantly side with the perpetrators. Then we will have a situation similar to our political system, where politicians have consistently ignored the cries of the people, and the only way to retaliate was to avoid the polls on Election Day.This community has the power to break the evil hand of sexual abuse of minors, simply because the process begins with every one of us.
Joslyn Morton
