Volda Lawrence’s inhumane statement about child rape

Dear Editor,

I refer to an article in the Guyana Chronicle (September 13) online edition under the headline, ‘Deflowering of children must stop’.

I wonder if the person who made this statement stopped for a moment to think about how utterly inhumane that statement was.

I wonder if they have ever had to speak to, hold or comfort a victim of sexual assault or rape, particularly a child.

We live in a country, in a world where little bodies are broken, battered and laid waste by adults, through physical and sexual abuse. We also live in a world where powerful people protect abusers, where the media is often used as a tool to manipulate and somewhere along the way, the most vulnerable in our society are rendered voiceless, their suffering minimised.

Our children are not flowers to be plucked.

I propose another headline: ‘the Government adopts a no tolerance policy on the rape and sexual abuse of children’.

Yours,

Nadia Sagar