Garth RattrayMANY YOUNG women seem unmindful of the fact that their personal conduct seriously influences the way that people perceive (and therefore treat) others of their gender.
The disgraceful and immoral actions of a relatively few teenage schoolgirls who engage in unlawful carnal knowledge with public transport workers for illicit thrills, monetary gain and/or favours, bore a bitter fruit in the form of a dreadful and disastrous repercussion.
Recently, a decent Christian teenage girl became the victim of a sexual offence. She was a paying passenger on a Coaster bus on her way to school when it was boarded by a group of three men who summarily accosted her and eventually abducted and raped her.
As a direct result of all the "sex" flying around our society, many men look on women as potential prey. Additionally, decent citizens are unwilling to stick their necks out for girls in the company of strange men on the odd chance that they are all in league.
In this particular case, when the victim tried to exit the bus, the crafty men conducted themselves in such a manner as to give the impression that she was well-known to them.
BUS-SEX GIRLS
The passengers were led to assume that she was one of the bus-sex girls so no one intervened. She was forced to remain on-board after everyone else had disembarked. This innocent girl was then driven away and gang-raped.
To some degree, we take it for granted that we can trust the country in which we live. However, the three rapists betrayed this young lady's trust in society. The passengers on the bus further betrayed her trust by failing to assist her, but perhaps the greatest betrayal of all came from those of her own age group and gender whose actions on the buses belittle and therefore endanger other girls. Jamaica is rapidly and inexorably sliding down the slippery slope of boundless immorality. It is only natural to expect that whatever makes it into the public domain reflects the general morality of our society.
We are therefore obviously a people preoccupied with gratuitous sex. Semi-nude pictures of girls and women are plastered across the pages of several competing publications almost daily. Music videos border on soft pornography.
Sex has found its way into everything from product advertising to popular "slack songs" that promulgate raw, unadulterated and primal intercourse. There is nothing uplifting or romantic about songs with verses like "Tek xxx gal" or "Pump up a xxx xxx tonight".
I am flabbergasted by the fact that these "songs" are actually produced and played loudly at public, outdoor venues.
Impressionable children, young adults and weak-minded idlers can't help but become somewhat influenced, dare I say, indoctrinated into a culture of unfettered sex.
What are we to expect from our young in such a poisoned atmosphere?
Our society has lost its sense of responsibility. There is little moral guidance. Television channels broadcast a steady stream of suggestive ads, highly provocatively sensuous music videos and easily available adult cable channels.
STREET DANCES
Popular "street dances" and Carnival parades that blatantly simulate the sex act feed the lascivious beast within many who eventually satisfy their twisted desires any way they can.
What I find particularly disturbing is the fact that so many women lack self-respect. A lot of them jump, prance, scream gleefully and spread-out to vulgar, filthy lyrics that debase all women. In so doing, they support and encourage the very same deejays that utterly disrespect them.
Since the start of the year, the police have recorded over 320 sexual offences. I will never absolve, excuse or even seek to explain the actions of rapists, but the women who glorify slackness should be aware that they are contributing to sex crimes. And, those who engage in indiscriminate sex set themselves and others up for abuse.
Our society continues to exploit womanhood in every conceivable way for commercial gains and sexual gratification. Confused signals and peer pressure encourage morally adrift schoolgirls to debase themselves and denigrate all young women.
I wonder how many other innocents have fallen victim to rape as a direct result of the practice of bus-sex?
Dr Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
