Written by Rosemary Wachiye 2011-07-21 13:11:00  |
The Rural Education and Economic Empowerment program REEP an organization that fights for the rights of children, under privileged, molested and works towards fighting the spread of HIV AIDS, is pausing the big question to all parents and guardians, how safe is your child?
Speaking to West Fm, the Director of REEP Mary Makokha was keen on child sexual abuse cases that she termed to be on the rise because of ignorance and neglect by parents and guardians.
She stated that many parents and guardians tend to put so much trust on the people around the family circle and have branded outsiders as the criminals and danger around children forgetting that no one can be trusted with a child.
“Many cases of child sexual abuse like rape, molestation, defilement and sexual harassment on the children are carried out by the closest people to the family,” said Ms Makokha
“We have branded strangers and outsiders as the danger and yet no one can be termed as safe with a child because we have seen that even parents have been involved in hurting the child in one way or the other, “said Ms Makokha
She added that mothers are not exempted since there was recent case reported in their office of a mother tying her son’s hand with a mosquito net then she set the child’s hand on fire, although the boy was recued amid the neighbors hearing his cries, he suffered severe burns.
“As REEP we want to find out through the radio program from these involved parents what prompted them to do such inhumane acts on their children and how it felt like from them watching their child suffer in their own making?” said Ms.Makokha
According to her, most of the children who were molested while young, end up replicating the same on others in boarding schools since they were never opened up to their guardians and parents and hence were not taught that such acts are bad and condoned by the society
“The children caught in gayism cases in schools are victims of sexual harassment at an early age and since they were never told of the consequences and unrightfulness of the act they go a head to try it on others,” said Ms Makokha
She urged parents to be free and open with their children so that they may feel free to tell them incase of any incidence of sexual harassment so that the parents may assist in counseling
She also cautioned against assumptions by the parents that the closest people of the family can not harm the child since according to the research findings they did in Butula region most cases of rape and molestation are carried out by the least expected that is the closest people to the child.
“Most parents have put so much trust in relatives and yet they are the danger to our children, I pass this to all, never to trust anyone with your child not even your spouse,” Said Ms Makokha
Just how safe is your child, if your spouse in the house can be raping your 6 year old child daily and because you are blinded by love you never seem to note, if your brother-in law can inhumanly insert his manhood in the ass of your son and since you trust him so much you never seem to note, if the mother who carried the child for nine months can burn him or her or literally chop his hand for no appetent reason then, REEP is asking how safe is your child?
Ms Makokha also added that while talking to the perpetrators she came to realize that most cases of child abuse takeplace in homes with domestic violence between the husband and wife
Citing the most recent case of a child of three months who died of fight between the father and mother, when the father was about to hit the wife a blow she escaped placing the child in front as defense and unfortunately the blow caught her neck and she died on the spot.
REEP has changed Butula region where there were rampant cases of wife battery and to date there are minimal, it has moved to schools too where there were cases of teachers molesting the boys or having sex with their students and the cases are reported to have reduced in that region.
Wes tm Radio hosts a half hour REEP talk show every Friday by the title, “PROTECTING TOMMOROW” from 7.30pm to 8.00pm aimed at sensitizing to know and learn more on the causes of molestations and rape from the perpetrators themselves and share in the pain of the victims to be careful in child upbringing.
Read more: http://www.westfm.co.ke/index-page-news-bid-2829.htm#ixzz1T6r51JVd
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