We are not in a position to comment either way on the guilt or innocence of the St. Elizabeth couple who the police have charged for allegedly abetting the sexual abuse of their 12-year-old daughter by a 30-year-old man.

The police's claim is that permanent sexual favours from the child were traded for land on which the couple built a one-room shack for a family of eight. We hope, particularly for the child's sake, the story is not true, that the police have made a terrible mistake and that the matter will soon be sorted out.

Even if this proves to be so in this case, there is enough empirical and anecdotal evidence to suggest that the sexual abuse of children, especially girls, is fairly common in Jamaica. And the underlying cause tends to be two-fold: ignorance and poverty. And the one is often merely an extension of the other.

Indeed, poor mothers with a big brood by several fathers, will sometimes look the other way and ask no questions when the pubescent daughter brings to the household financial resources, obviously provided by an older man. The mothers who find themselves in these situations are more likely to be those of limited education and having few or no skills. They tend to be the ones who have had early and multiple pregnancies. It is easier, they may feel, to pretend a partner's molestation of a stepdaughter is not real.

Ignorance manifests itself in another way among men who abuse children. Indeed, it is a widely held belief among some illiterate and undereducated men that sexual intercourse with a virgin is the cure for certain diseases. Or, there is a sense of dominance and selfish power, which presumes that sexual access comes with providing for the economic welfare of a child.

Every so often, there are those who, having not thought through the issues, glibly presume that the answer to these problems is to raise the age at which a girl can have consensual sex.

One proposal recently was to push that age from 16 to 18, which appears, sensibly, to have foundered. For, what such a move would most likely have done, is expand the scope of legal cases, mostly unreported, without addressing the fundamental issues. Many teenage girls over the age of 16 who engage in consensual sex - in the face of further criminalisation of the process, would be forced deeper underground at a time they require help the most, from health and social work professionals.

The real and lasting solution to cases such as the one that police say they have turned up in St. Elizbeth, is multifaceted, and must start with education and training. Educated women with employable skills will not so easily be victims of exploitation. It is critical, therefore, that we fix the education system to improve on our poor performance in this area.

We also need to fix the economy to deliver sustained, robust and job-creating growth so as to reduce unemployment generally, and particularly, the high levels among young women.

Additionally, child welfare agencies, with the support of the police, have to become particularly aggressive in identifying abuse, prosecuting abusers and placing at-risk children in care. And we have to wage a campaign against ignorance and for the building of a caring society.

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