THE EDITOR, Sir:
WITHOUT A doubt, Jamaica's demotion by the State Department's 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report is a blessing in disguise for this country's children.
Obviously, it takes sanctioning with monetary tentacles to get the Government and other relevant agencies to seriously open dialogue about the sexual exploitations of the country's most innocent, our children. I was quite happy with the proliferation of issues being discussed in the media on the matter. Now, it has been publicised that the criminals who sexually abuse those children in the children's homes will now be prosecuted, a pronouncement which is long overdue.
I am saddened by the fact that it took an outsider with monetary tenets to get our attention. Every year in this country thousands of teenage girls as young as 13 are preyed upon by predators who impregnate them, giving us the highest rate of pregnancy per capita in the world; however, these sexual predators are not prosecuted, but revered as 'baby fathers' in our society.
Likewise, many of the so-called 'go-go' clubs parade the under-age girls as delicacies of the sexual world and there is no outcry from the appropriate authorities.
Annually, we celebrate Child Month, and yet as a culture, we continue to perpetuate violence against our children with our silence, lack of political and legal wills. Therefore, we are indeed guilty of committing crime against the society's most innocent, and therefore our demotion is justified.
So, my prayer is that in order to be promoted, we will now endeavour to implement and enforce the necessary laws to protect the nation's gems and Jamaica's future.
I am, etc.,
ANN-MARIE FISHER-HERDSMAN
Northern Caribbean University
