Save the

Editorial

Save the Children

Children have rights. And perhaps chief among these is the right to be protected from exploita tion of any description. Tomorrow’s adults, the people who will shape the future of mankind,need to approach

their task untainted by childhood trauma. In recent months the Pacific islands region appears to have suffered an influx of the worst kind of child exploiters - those who use children for sexual

gratification.

Theirs is possibly the worst sin that can be visited on any inno cent child. It can and does destroy the child before he or she has even a chance to grow. These criminals take away from the young perhaps the very essence of their childhood, their innocence, leav ing a damaged shell that more often than not will never fully recover. It is a crime that strikes fear into the heart of every par ent. Yet too often those same people seem strangely reluctant to impart to their children the knowledge that may help protect them from this evil activity. Wishing, no doubt, to protect that same innocence, we tend in this part of the world not to tell our children of such things. Most people, however, can agree that those found guilty of this crime should be punished to the full extent of the law. But as lawyer Anthony Gates points out, the region’s laws are not always equal to this dreadful crime. For while most nations are signatories to the UN Convention on Children’s Rights, few have enacted enabaling legislation to enshrine this convention in domestic law. Parents throughout the region will support such leg

islation. Without it, after all, all the promises made in the document, impor tant though it is, are close to worthless.

Governments in our part of the world may have been unaware of such dan gers to children. If that is so recent rev elations may shock them into action.

But it is in the nature of politics that there has to be a political rea son for change. In other words, if parents and concerned profes sionals do not press governments to pass laws, there is a risk that some politicians, at least, will find other priorities. On the other hand it would be quite wrong to suppose that a handful of evil expatriates are solely responsible for the abuse of our children.

Clearly that would be naive in the extreme.

Research and emerging material in our region indicates that the overwhelming majority of child sex abuses are perpetrated by a family member or by someone very close to the family. The harsh truth is that we have probably never been without child abuse any more than the so-called developed nations have been.

But people overseas are learning to come to terms with this while most of us come from a culture of silence on such matters. Adults find it very difficult to openly discuss sexual offences. Imagine, then, the difficulties faced by children who have been subject to abuse. The terror a child has endured can only be multiplied by the lack of opportunity to seek the comfort of explaining the hurt to a caring parent. It's time to end the silence. Children should know that sexual abuse is a crime and that it should be reported.

Silence on this matter is far from golden. ■