Women of Itaballi – a small mining and logging community on the Essequibo River – are calling on the authorities to take urgent measures to save the young girls of the village who they say are being sexually exploited by men including law enforcers.
The residents, who met with the Guyana Women Miners Organisation last Friday, strongly voiced their concerns pointing out that many of the young girls are left unsupervised by their parents who have gone into the interior in a bid to earn. Many nights the young females would be found in the shops along the waterfront of the village dancing and behaving vulgarly. Some are also seen performing sexual acts on grown men while in one instance, there is a house occupied by four females-only one above the age of 16-that a steady stream of men are seen visiting.
One of the girls in that home is a 14-year-old who is the eldest of five children. Her mother died four years ago. The child had been living with various relatives but at one time was living on the streets before she moved in with the three sisters whose mother left them to seek employment and never returned. Their father is also away but would visit every six weeks.
“If you does see this girl and dem rest, backballing in the shops and so and when you talk to them if you hear the language dem does use,” 67-year-old Babsie Peters said. Peters, who confessed that she “like me rum” but says that she has already lived her life, expressed concern about what is happening with the community’s young females. She said that the police are supposed to protect but they are also involved with the women.
The police ranks are stationed at the Toll Gate in the community.
“It is a growing concern and problem in the community,” Chairman of the village, Cleveland Trotz admitted when contacted by Stabroek News. Trotz said the problem came to a head in January last and the welfare department in Bartica in a joint operation with the police, picked up females, whom he said were between the ages of 16 and 18, and held a meeting with them during which they were informed that “certain actions” would be taken against them if they were found in the shops.
While he said that since then there has been a “reduction” in the problem, the womenfolk of the community said more needs to be done for the young women to save them from a path of self-destruction.
Trotz also confirmed that there have been reports of police officers forming sexual liaisons with the girls and cited the case of one rank who was transferred from the area in January after allegations of misconduct involving a young girl. While he could not say if the officers who are presently stationed in the community are involved in any misconduct, many females with whom this newspaper spoke, alleged that ranks are indeed taking advantage of the young unsupervised females. “The police officers does put on a nice face in the day and in the nights it is something else,” said Trotz.
House on the hill
At least one officer is reported to be one of the males who visit the small house on a hill that is occupied by the four teenage girls. One woman told Stabroek News that the same rank recently slapped her handicapped son several times when he had visited the home one evening. She said her son told her that one of the girls had called him and when he visited a male who was there verbally assaulted him. The woman said her son did not go into the house but stood in the yard and as he was being given a dressing down by the man, the police officer-who was not in uniform but whom he knows-came out of the house and “slap he four time and chase he away.”
Upon hearing about the house, president of the Women Miners Organisation, Simona Broomes and some of her members visited the home where the females were found sleeping. One of the women, who once lived at Itaballi and still has businesses there, went into the poorly secured building to wake the females. The oldest came to the door first and it was she who later called out the 14-year-old.
Boomes hugged the young child and told her she was there to assist her. However her attempts to get the child to speak were futile as the teen sat with her head bowed and would only confirm that her mother is dead and her siblings are now living with various relatives.
Asked how she survives the young woman with whom she lives said: “Well she gat a boyfriend.” Broomes left her telephone numbers with the child and told her to call her whenever she needs help. Yesterday Broomes told Stabroek News that she has since raised the issue with Minister of Human Services & Social Security Dr Jennifer Webster as she yearns to see something done for the young women in the community.“Imagine we are not in the interior and you see what is happening? You could imagine what happens in the heart of the interior known as no man’s land” Broomes said.
She spoke of how depressed she felt when she left Itaballi on Friday pointing out that she is a mother of a young child a little older that the 14-year-old and she wishes that the child receives some sort of help before it is too late.“I wish I could take her and provide a life for her, she needs a mother and she deserves to have a better life,” Broomes said.
The head of the mining organization said that while she or her organization cannot help all women, the child needs assistance and they are willing to help in whatever way they can. She called for some form of intervention in Itaballi that would involve providing some meaningful activity for young women in the area that would not only steer them away from the path of self-destruction but would also create the mechanism for them to become productive citizens.“I cannot bear the pain of girls being destroyed before they become adults,” Broomes said.
Unsupervised
Meanwhile, Trotz told Stabroek News that many young females are left unsupervised by their oftentimes single mothers. He said he is aware of the three females with whom the 14-year-old lives but added that he was not aware that the latter now lives there. According to Trotz, the children’s mother left them and went across the river to work at BK International’s quarry but has not returned since. Their father works in the interior and he returns home every six weeks for two weeks before leaving again. Trotz described Itaballi as a community “where certain things are lacking” one of which is strong parental guidance.
“The parents would move away and leave the children at the mercy of …,” he said giving the example of a girl who was still in school but is now living with a young man after her mother left to find employment. He believes that girl is above the age of 16 but is not 100% sure.
Asked what he thinks should be done, Trotz-who said he is seen as an outsider in the community since he has only been living there since 2002-called for welfare officers to work along with the mostly single parent homes. He said that the women are unable to find employment in the community to support their families and are forced to leave them to get money. He does not support the children being removed from the homes “because nobody like their children being taken away” but rather for the mothers to be worked with. “Give them a chance to redeem themselves,” he said.
The village leader said that the Assemblies of God and Seventh-day Adventist churches are trying to “see how best they can help to curb this situation.” The churches, he said, are hoping through various interventions to not only bring the young girls into the fold but also to help them to understand that the path they are choosing is not the right one. He said there are also two volunteers-both Guyanese-who are teaching at the Primary School and are working with the younger children. According to him, there has already been a marked improvement in the behaviour of the younger children.
Trotz said that the situation is also dire because the community is a transit point for loggers and miners heading into the interior and as a result on any given day, many strangers could be found in the community. These strangers have no roots in the community and the welfare of the young girls is the least of their concerns.
