Men wait in line for sex with girl, 9.

Judge orders paternity test in incest case.

Teen killed by relative after years of sexual abuse.

The suffering of children at the hands of sexual predators has prompted horrific newspaper headlines this year. Is the sexual abuse of children-like our spiralling murder rate-a fattening monster? Or has an ever-present beast remained undetected and under-reported over the years? The Rape Crisis Society encountered 75 cases of child sexual abuse and 89 cases of incest involving children from age seven to early teens, during 2004. But activists insist that without improved detection and nationwide statistics, it is impossible to say how widespread the abuse is, whether the problem has progressively worsened, and how our prevalence rate compares to those of other countries.

"I think over the last two decades the problem has really mushroomed into what you see now. A lot of the early initiation into sexual activity and the prevalence rate of HIV among young people are evidence," child rights activist Gregory Sloane-Seale submitted. "For every story that is found out or reported, there may be ten more. I think things have worsened. I see it practically every day."

"Sexual abuse does not just mean penetration," clarified former senator and vocal child rights advocate Diana Mahabir-Wyatt. "It means any kind of sexual approaches or sexual activity between an adult and child." Mahabir-Wyatt and Sloane-Seale belong to a group of activists who launched the Akiel Chambers Memorial Trust Fund in May. The fund is meant to assist children who are the victims of sexual abuse, while heightening public awareness. Eleven-year-old Chambers, whose body was fished out of a Maraval swimming pool in 1998, was buggered just hours before his death. The Fund that bears his name does much more than remind us of an open case and unpunished perpetrators. It is also a declaration that boys are just as vulnerable to sexual abuse as girls.

"Over the past ten years, I've heard endless stories from young males who say that men would pick them up and give them money to fondle them or have sex," Sloane-Seale said. "That has grown over the past ten years. Female victims are viewed with a lot more sympathy and understanding. Boys...our society just doesn't know how to deal with that. They experience a lot more pressure in terms of coming forward to tell their stories because of this widespread homophobia. It impacts the victim although he is not at all homosexual."

If we are to protect our boys and girls, T&T must come to terms with its challenge. Here's a dose of reality from Mahabir-Wyatt: "Many people refuse to admit there is a problem. This issue is not exclusively for the poor and disadvantaged or the rich and negligent. Small, helpless people can be easily taken advantage of. And there's something about the weak and helpless that brings out the brute in people who have a need to control others. This country is in denial. Everyone thinks it's someone else's child. One case ends in murder and a great fuss is made, but after all the fuss we slip back into inertia."

"A lot of young people have been alienated from their families due to abuse or neglect," Sloane-Seale added. "Sexual predators can pick up on vulnerable people, especially children who need a friend. With so many children left without empathy and understanding, predators are given very fertile ground in which to operate."

As recently reported cases have shown, knowledge that a child is being abused often offers no guarantee that she will be protected. Sloane-Seale explained a phenomenon in which family members turn a blind eye.

"A certain level of disassociation takes place where a mother has gone through abuse herself, and then it turns out her offspring is being abused as well. The woman separates herself from the trauma. She shuts off emotionally. It's a sort of denial...a coping mechanism. If a person doesn't feel empowered enough to get themselves out of a situation and they feel hopeless and helpless, they allow the abuse to happen. With each victim that goes through this sort of trauma," he warned, "you have a ripple effect. It multiplies."

Mahabir-Wyatt emphasised the need to develop a national strategy. There must be a network that protects at-risk children. The public must learn how to spot abuse. And there should be safe places for children who must be removed from their families.

"We really prefer that the perpetrator be moved while the family heals," she explained. "But there are cases where it cannot be helped." Emphasising that most of the homes for abandoned and neglected children are run by nongovernmental organisations, Mahabir-Wyatt repeated her call for the government to put aside $50 million for NGOs in a fund to be administered by an independent organisation. She lamented the fact that Child Line, a hotline that offers children the ear and advice of trained counsellors, is likely to fold in just over a month.

"It is one of the most successful programmes in the country, but people don't care. We can spend $850 million on a stadium but we can't spare $300,000 for Child Line, which is used by 700 children every month. Very little money is put into getting anything done for children," she fumed. "Because children don't vote."

Contributions to the Akiel Chambers Memorial Trust Fund may be made at Republic Bank to account # 55017757120. Persons interested in contributing to the survival of Child Line may contact the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition Against Domestic Violence at 624-0402 or 627-6844.

In its next issue, WOMAN takes a closer look at the sexual predator. What is his story? What does he look for in his child victims? And is it possible to rehabilitate him?