Guyanese were, last week, thrown into despair after becoming aware of circumstances which led to the death of 13-year-old Leonard Archibald, who was brutally sodomised by two men from his community. His body was dumped aback the community and left exposed to the extremities of the environment, only to be discovered days after by a search party.
Since the incident, members of the Brothers (and Sisters) village where the lad resided have come forward demanding justice. They have also accused the Police in their district of inaction on a number of previous reports made against one of the two men who have been arraigned for the murder of young Leonard. This incident also saw other boys who were victims of rape, assault and intimidation coming forward to tell their harrowing tales.
In response, both the Government and Police Force have expressed concern and outrage following the lad’s death. At least one probe is ongoing into the conduct of the Police within the district, and their handling of the Archibald case and others, which residents say were ducked under the table. Various stakeholders have strongly condemned the rape and buggery of our boys. Suddenly, calls are resurfaced for stronger legislation against child sex offenders and paedophiles.
The Rights of the Child Commission also has awoken from its periodic slumber, and is joining the discourse. Politicians have expressed sympathy, and some are even trying to see how they could achieve mileage and relevance following the dastardly act to boost their personal appeal. In short, everyone has reacted, and rightly so.
But this sort of knee-jerk reaction exposes the sad reality of the kind of society that we live in. It also highlights the core of the bigger problem, while further bringing the double-standard and shocking levels of hypocrisy of human nature to the fore. Leonard did not have to die. Those boys who were brutally abused did not have to go through those traumatic experiences. The probes ongoing now into the conduct of the Police ranks in the district and their handling of previous rape and buggery accusations would not have been necessary if there were a functional system of monitoring and evaluating the work of the lawmen in cases like these — wherein serious allegations are being levied about cases being “ducked down” or ignored.
While no one is willing to admit it, as a society, we are fully responsible for Leonard’s death. We are all guilty of inaction as far as doing much more to adequately protect our boys from rape and buggery. We are all accountable for the failure to safeguard the wellbeing of all our children. The truth is that there are, across the country, many Leonard Archibalds whose stories have never been told. There are so many young boys who have been scarred for life following the sexual overtures that are made constantly by supposedly heterosexual adult males who prey on the innocence of these minors. I dare say that there are also homosexual males who have a special appetite for underage boys and children. The victim is usually the boy down the road, or the child next door whose parents usually leave him unsupervised because he is a “boy” and is deemed “capable of defending himself” from those kinds of attacks.
When they happen, the shame and concern about the boy’s image or future force some of these families to remain silent. Fathers, too, whose sons were victims, also fear the impact reporting and highlighting the act would have on the perceived masculinity of their sons. So, to protect them, they do nothing but place on them the obligation to become “hard men” while suppressing every emotion they perceive to be feminine.
Guyana does not need more complex laws to tackle the issues raised in this column, or to prevent paedophiles from hurting our children. We need stricter enforcement of the laws that exist as a first step towards protecting our children. We need more national programmes aimed at educating communities about the laws that protect children as a deterrent to those with such an inclination. We need campaigns aimed at ending the “hush hush” culture. There is need for boys to be treated equally as girls when it comes to allegations of sexual molestation, buggery of underage boys, rape and sexual assault.
Boys must be taught not to be “hard men” who repress their emotions, but men who express them. We must teach our boys to love and protect each other. They must speak out against any uninvited attempt to touch them inappropriately by another male or female. They must know there is no shame, but integrity, in exposing perpetrators of rape and sexual abuse.
More training of the male-dominated Police Force to respond professionally and swiftly to reports of rape must be compulsory. The Government must take a stand, too, and more research must be conducted on making other interventions to protect the male child.
Finally, society must disabuse its mind of the viewpoint that all homosexuals are paedophiles. Those men who killed Leonard do not identify as gay or bisexual; they are products of a society that has failed to instill proper mores, values and traditions in them. We have failed them, too, because they appear confused about their sexuality and troubled mentally, if they can look at a 13-year-old boy or any underage child as sexually attractive. They must not just be left to rot in jail; they must be rehabilitated and reformed.
