No payoff for ignoring abuse

A grown man allegedly sexually abuses a little girl (or is “defiled,” the word they use here when referring to abuse of children). Rather than being arrested and prosecuted, the man pays off the little girl’s family and a local policeman.

A journalist brought up this story in a roundtable discussion at our recent workshop in Ho, a town in the Lake Volta Region. He had encountered three or four situations like this; they all ended in much the same way. He wanted to know how to write a story about what was happening, and it was difficult because no one would talk about it.

Since I arrived here six weeks ago, I’ve heard about many human rights violations that are not prosecuted, usually for two main reasons – poverty and stigmatization.

The case of the little girl is a typical example. Her family is very poor and could make good use of the money, the reporter said. The rape is also a great embarrassment to family. To be labeled a victim of abuse would affect her future marriage prospects, he said.

Police salaries are also low so the officer takes a cut and agrees not to pursue the case, which is in the best interests of the man but also the family that needs the money and doesn’t need the grief of this incident going public.

The same issues come up in other cases involving rights, like child trafficking for example. The families are often very poor and need the money selling the child brings to them. It also saves the family the expense of feeding and schooling the child.

In cases where they are rescued and reintegrated into their families, they are often ridiculed by other kids. Being trafficked means their family is poor, a stigma none of them want to carry around.

We encountered this scenario when we went to a town called Sogacope several weeks ago. A couple of kids didn’t show up for an interview about child trafficking because they didn’t want to be identified in a newspaper circulated in the community.

Nonetheless, these issues are important and need to be discussed in a public forum or they will not be addressed. In our group discussion around the little girl who was abused, we talked about ways he could report about the story. For example, he could offer anonymity to family that agreed to talk about their situation. If he included no details that could identify them, they could feel reasonable safe that their privacy would be protected.

The reporter was still unsure about pursuing the story. I plan to check back in with him in a few weeks. I’ll file an update if he’s made any progress on it.

- Mark