There is no doubt that the cases of minors defiling minors is gradually generating a big concern to stakeholders in the society.
For over a time, government, advocacy groups and international organisations concentrate on girls’ sexual education, believing that boys are superhuman who should know girls are not objects of defilement.
They failed to remember that most times, boys who perpetrate this act were once victims of defilement. Many of them have been abused as children in their homes by aunties, female teachers among others.
Group tasks LASG on assessment of schools before resumption
The growth in the use of social media and internet activities has also expose children to a lot of sexual engagement. Even most cartoons nowadays display sexual scene that parents may not actually know except parents who seat with their children to watch cartoon programmes.
Parents’ phone are always around for children to play with even with display of sexual image at the tip of the hand for children.
To the parents, if your child is not too small to be taught how to watch the hot stove, how to look both ways before they cross the street and they adhere to it, then every child including boys should be taught sexual education early to prevent unwanted disaster that is already looming among children.
Yes, many may say it has been happening from decades, but the exposure to so many 21st century gadgets, parents, teachers, neighbours, other children, has actually push it up. If we must conquer this war or reduce it to a barest minimum, parents, advocates, civil society organisations, government and international organization must repackage their programmes to bring in the total re-orientation of boys children and educate them on sex education.
Here is a case of a 9 year old boy from Akwa Ibom who was now revealed that he was the one that defiled a 4-year-old minor who according to report were neighbours. The unfortunate thing about the case was that when the mother of the survivor (minor) went to confront the perpetrator, she was beaten by the perpetrator’s uncle and friend. She reported the matter to the police and the boy was arrested and later bailed alongside his uncle and friend after money was allegedly paid to the police.
Now, the survivor’s mother has been getting death threats from the family of the 9 years old boy and because of that she couldn’t go back to the house for the fear of loosing her life and that of her remaining two children.
With the reaction of the boy’s uncle, this is more than meeting the eyes. Who knows what would have been happening to the 9 years old under the tutelage of his uncle. Unfortunately, under the Nigeria Law, the uncle, 19 has just graduated from being a child to an adult.
As at the time of filing this report, the case was charged to court yesterday, 14th October at EKET Magistrate where the suspect 9 years old was remanded in the correctional center while the uncle was granted bail but couldn’t meet up with the bail condition.
FEW INFORMATION THAT CAN HELP
According to the US Department of Justice only 10% of perpetrators were strangers to the child and 23% of the perpetrators were children themselves!
Findings from a National Survey 2014 says one in four girls and one in ten boys experience sexual violence
Mostly, the perpetrators are someone the child knows and the violence often takes place where the child should be safe – in their homes, in a neighbour’s home, at school, and coming to and from school.
The vast majority of minors never speak out, silenced by fear, shame, stigma and a lack of knowledge of where to seek help. Fewer than five per cent of children who are victims of violence ever get the help that they need to recover.
Arm your minors with knowledge that might keep them safe since you may not be able to stop them from playing or allow your children to go out into the world and interact with those around them. If you stop them, when you are not around, they will go. To them, it is not always disobedience, it is exploring their world.
The place of communication with the children is of utmost important so as to know when your child has suddenly change. It is a gradual thing with signs but when a parent is not vigilant enough, he or she may not be able to help the child.
More public enlightenment and education at schools, social clubs, cultural group gatherings, churches, mosques and through the media, to first of all, demystify the myths about sexual assault.
