Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News (‘Rights of the Child Commission sworn in,’ May 9)  reported President Jagdeo  as describing the recent and ongoing protest by  the Coalition to Stamp out Violence as “cheap” because the protestors “knew that the government had to take care of a busy Parliamentary agenda which included crucial security legislation, such as wire-tapping…”

The report has not been denied.  If it is correct the criticism is unworthy of a Head of State. If we are so short of people to draft legislation that the government has to choose between “crucial security legislation” and providing children with crucial security against acts of sexual violence which destroy their lives, then finding the personnel and expertise we need is a national emergency.

Do we hear the children when they cry?

● The four month old  girl with “thrush” in her mouth which turned out to be layers of a neighbour’s semen

● The three year old boy whose policeman father tore his anus open

●  The six year old girl whose womb was destroyed by a thirty-five year old neighbour

●  The thirteen year old girl raped by a 72 year old man

●  The five boys, aged 6-8, raped by a businessman

●  The two boys aged 9 and 11 whose father has been raping them since they were 7 and 9

These few examples come from newspaper reports and from cases which have been brought to our attention.

Why have we come out on the streets now to call for justice for children who have been victims of sexual violence?

1.  We decided at a meeting in March 2009 sponsored by Red Thread and Help & Shelter to mark International Women’s Day to step up the campaign to stamp out sexual violence against children. We want to bring the attention of all – government, opposition, what is called ‘civil society’ and the general public – to the horrors of this violence because we believe that if more people and groups and institutions could ‘see’ this violence they would be spurred to immediate action.

2. We were pushed to come out onto the streets when a man was recently charged with buggery of a 15 year old boy because we have no legislation at present to charge him with what he would have been charged with if his victim had been a 15 year old girl – rape. In fact, it is only the homophobia of our present laws that permitted him to be charged at all.

3. We decided to follow through with our plans to come out onto the streets after we heard that the legislation may shortly be placed before Parliament because we wanted to say to the government and to the opposition that we are watching and that any further delay for any reason whatsoever would be intolerable. We want the legislation and we want it now.

We also want to say to all those organizations in the private sector and the trade unions that say they are concerned with “national” issues – “bringing an end to sexual violence against children is a national issue, surely one on which we can all agree and around which we can all unite in active struggle.”  We want to say to the ethnic organizations – “this brutality is being inflicted on children of all races; are children not part of the race you defend?”

We want to say to the religious organizations which rise up against what they define as evil – “rise up against sexual violence against children in Guyana which is one of the worst evils imaginable.”

Do we hear the children when they cry?

Yours faithfully,
Andaiye
Red Thread