Time To Stem Rising Cases Of Child Abuse And Rape

The alarm recently raised by the Director of the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender, Mrs. Omotola Rotimi, that cases of child abuse and rape were on the increase in the state should be taken seriously by all.

This is because cases of rape and child abuse have assumed a frightening dimension.

According to the OPD director, between January and now, at least 17 children between the ages of 11 and below had been defiled while children between the ages of 12 and above had been raped. In the same period, seven children were physically abused by their parents.

It is necessary to note that these are the reported cases or those brought to the knowledge of the authorities. We are aware that countless other cases of child abuse and rape occur in the society and are unreported due to the social stigma associated with rape and the indifference by society to cases of child abuse.

The OPD director explained further that her office had received reports about men raping young girls and fathers doing same to their daughters. This, according to her, “is becoming almost a daily occurrence now as we receive cases of defilement of children whose ages is as low as 18 months old by people who sometimes are very close to the family of the child.”

What the OPD director did not add is that a father was recently jailed by a Lagos court for having a child through his daughter.

It is our opinion that the OPD alert is timely and something should be done urgently by all to stem the tide. If we fail to act now, we are inadvertently promoting social dislocation which will result when bastards and brigands take over in future to terrorise us.

This matter should not be left in the hands of government alone. Everybody, including parents, religious leaders, teachers, opinion moulders and the society as a whole have a great role to play in checking these two social ills.

In the first place, the government as the official enforcer of social discipline must rise up to the occasion by promulgating laws that will severely punish would-be rapists and child abusers.

We propose that the government embark on an enlightenment campaign in the mass media, using the local languages to sensitise people of the twin evil of child abuse and rape and the repercussion. Parents must be educated on the need to warn their children of the evil effect of rape and the need to treat their children humanely.

Secondly, discipline must be promoted in the homes. Male children must be told to have respect for the female child. Girls should be taught to dress modestly and not seductively to reduce incidence of sexual molestation and harassment.

Teachers in schools and churches also have their roles to play in this regard.

There is also the need for parents to bring up their children properly by counselling them on how to relate with the opposite sex to avoid immoral acts and other deviant behaviour that could be inimical to their wellbeing