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Paralysed system betrays sexually abused youth
A careless and lethargic bureaucracy and delays in resolving investigations are causing soaring rates of rape and sexual abuse among youth, according to past and current heads of the National Child Protection Agency.
Most cases of child abuse go unreported (Reuters/file pic)
UNP MP Hesha Withanage recently shocked parliament by quoting police figures showing that in the first 15 days of this year alone there had been 142 cases of rape, 42 cases of serious sexual abuse and 54 child abuse cases.
The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) said last year 600 complaints of sexual abuse of children were reported through its Child Help Line, 1929, among a total of 8,558 complaints of abuse of children. Half the complaints relating to sexual abuse of children involved rape and almost that number to grave sexual abuse.
The NCPA has a backlog of 5,000 cases over the past 10 years without a single prosecution having been made, the agency’s Chairman, Professor Muditha Vidanapathirana, said.
He said this was due to insufficient investigations by NCPA Child Protection Officers resulting from lack of time and staff.
When a case is reported the police have to inform the NCPA immediately, and vice versa. The police are required to investigate and report back to the agency. Child Protection Officers and psychosocial officers are mandated to investigate.
“If sufficient evidence is not collected the case is closed. If the police fail to act efficiently the investigation will be done once again from the beginning,” Prof. Vidanapathirana said.
Prof Vidanapathirana, who is also the Judicial Medical Officer at the Kalubowila Hospital and Senior Lecturer of the Forensics Department of Jayawardenapura University said the NCPA Act was strong and had provision for its officers to take abusers directly to court, but the power was not being used.
“I intend to bring in new proposals and mandate them to use the authority,” he said.
The NCPA’s founder and former chairman, Professor, Harendra de Silva, said the institution had failed in its efforts. “Politics has crept into the system paralysing the bureaucracy, law enforcement and the judiciary,” he said.
The figures reported by the police and the NCPA are only the tip of the iceberg, he added; most cases went unreported either by the child, the parents and law officers.
When an incident occurred the child most often felt guilty, believing the abuse was his or her fault, and to avoid punishment children chose not to reveal such crimes to parents, guardians or even a friend, Prof. de Silva said.
In most cases, when the child disclosed to the mother that a brother or father was responsible for sexual abuse, the mother did not go to the police for fear of the stigma and because of the financial losses the household would experience without the alleged abuser’s contribution to the family coffers.
In some cases, Prof. de Silva said, the police behave unprofessionally and refrain from recording the case. There were delays in filling out inquiry books and filing cases in court.
Cases suffer delays at the magistrate courts and at the Attorney-General’s Department. According to police figures for 2019, 127 cases of sexual abuse are pending at the magistrate courts and 246 cases at the Attorney-General’s office.
“Justice delayed is justice denied,” Prof. de Silva said.
“Often by the time the case is taken up the victim is ready for marriage, or has married and has children, with the husband not aware of the incident.
“In other cases, the courts drag the cases on for years and the victim gets tired of appearing in court and giving evidence. The system does not prioritise the cases. Once the case is heard the next hearing is put off for months, if not years.
“The entire system has failed, with no progress in the prevention of abuse,” Prof. de Silva said.
“The various authorities that have been appointed to protect children have shown inefficiency over the years. The staff who get into the system do not want to change and are only interested in keeping their positions intact.
“There is no commitment or expertise to understand the issues. They just ‘keep batting without scoring’ until retirement. We need quality in the top leadership,” Prof. de Silva said.
Another area that is neglected is the mental trauma suffered by children in the institutions to which they are sent for protection. “They do not get proper psychological support to get through the process of recovery. They are not counselled,” Prof. de Silva said.
In 2018 (the 2019 figures are not yet out), police received 1,199 complaints of statutory rape of victims over the age of consent (16 years and older) and 248 complaints of rape of victims under 16 years of age. Fifty cases of sexual exploitation of children were reported.
Of these, only 10 cases of rape of victims over the age of consent and four of victims under the age of consent and two cases of sexual exploitation of children have been finalised in the courts. Out of 1,497 cases, 1,435 cases of rape, sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children are pending in court.
When MP Withanage raised the issue of sexual abuse of youth, Government Whip Johnston Fernando asserted that most of the cases referred to by the UNP MP had been investigated.
He added that most of those cases – 44 cases of rape, eight of sexual abuse and 17 of child abuse – had been reported from the Batticaloa district.
Batticaloa Women and Child Protection Officer, Sub-Inspector N. Sushila agreed with the statistics read out in parliament by Minister Johnston and said sexual abuse among youth was rampant in the area.
Increased rates of rape and sexual exploitation of children had led to a rise in early marriages between boys and girls, she said.
The officer said the marriages were arranged by parents who opt to marry a girl off to her abuser following a rape. Hindus married underage children in Hindu kovils and then registered the marriages with the registrar when the couple reached 18 years; Muslims, under the privilege of the Muslim law, marry their children at the age of 12 with parental consent.
An officer of the Rural Development Society (RDS) who wished to remain anonymous said that the regions of Valichchenai and Vaharai reported the most cases of youth sexual abuse.
“In Vaharai, an area where veddhas live, there are many boys who have dropped out from school and are working as masons, shop assistants and labourers loading sand onto tractors in sand-mining areas,” the officer said.
“Smoking, alcohol, drugs and pornography is rampant among these youngsters who get into relationships early in their life, raping and sexually abusing young female children.
“Most often these children come from families from the lower socio-economic strata and their parents are into drugs and in jail.
“Women who go astray when their husbands are in jail for various offences have many children out of wedlock. These children grow up without proper parental guidance,” the RDS officer said.