What about the victims? Sex education policy failing the vulnerable

What about the victims? Sex education policy failing the vulnerable           

Those in power must be reminded of the enormous responsibility placed on their shoulders. The policy documents that are discussed in pristine conference rooms have the potential to save or destroy thousands of lives in our country’s classrooms.
            The overall objective of any sex education policy in schools should be to the best interests of the student population. The sex education policy in this country must be one that is geared towards improving the quality of life of the nation as a whole.
            For too long the lives of our young people have been sacrificed at the altar of political correctness and moral ideals that have no grounding in reality. Those who cling to these ideals at the cost of human life are guilty of intellectual idolatry.
            Sex education goes far beyond ‘teaching children how to have sex’. It entails informing them of their human rights and empowering them to take charge of their reproductive health. It empowers young persons to protect themselves from disease and unwanted pregnancy.   It will also teach the benefits of abstinence and the right of the child to say ‘no’ to unwanted sexual advances.
            Most critically, a proper sex education policy will go hand in hand with programs to help children that are being sexually exploited.
            The Organization for Abused and Battered Individuals has dealt with cases where teenaged girls were being prostituted by their own parents.  Sexual abuse by parents and guardians is common in our society .As such any policy that leaves sex education up to the parents will be incapable of saving the children trapped in brutal situations like these.     
            One quarter of persons living with HIV in Trinidad and Tobago are under the age of 24. One out of every eight babies born in this country are born to teenaged mothers.  This data is indicative of a crisis that will have long term effects for our nation as a whole.          
            Children who are not exposed to proper sex education grow up to be vulnerable adults. I myself have met many women who were sexually assaulted or raped and were not aware that by law a crime was committed against their human dignity. Many children who are abused may only learn that what is being done to them is wrong years afterward.
            Proper sex education is therefore critical in fighting against sex crimes in our country, how can the crime be reported if the victim does not understand that a crime was committed against them? How can the victim access proper counseling and healthcare services without proper education?
            A proper sex education policy must address the needs of the victims of sex crimes. Furthermore the needs of these victims must be prioritized above the views of the religious oligarchy who may disagree with such a policy. Any religious dogma that comes in the way of saving human life must be denounced as false religion.
            Defining Rape can become highly technical , hence the need for impartial education on the issue.   To illustrate the point of ‘sex crimes’ being fairly technical please read the  Sexual Offences Act Ch 11: 28.  Section 4 (1) which is quoted below.
“
 4. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person (“the accused”) commits the offence of rape when he has sexual intercourse with another person (“the complainant”)—
 (a) without the consent of the complainant where he knows that the complainant does not consent to the intercourse or he is reckless as to whether the complainant consents; or
(b) with the consent of the complainant where the consent—
(i) is extorted by threat or fear of bodily harm to the complainant or to another;
(ii) is obtained by personating someone else;
(iii) is obtained by false or fraudulent representations as to the nature of the intercourse; or
(iv) is obtained by unlawfully detaining the complainant”Unless parents are going to be teaching their children about sex straight from the sexual offences act it is likely they will fall short in equipping their children with the required knowledge .
            I am therefore calling on the Minister of Education Anthony Garcia to enter into a referendum process with all stakeholders on the issue of sex education. The focus should not be enforcing the views of those who are not at risk, but on saving the lives of victims. 



This made letter of the day for Sunday September 27th 2015 :
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20150926/letters/sex-education-policy-failing-the-vulnerable

Rapists go to church

Rapists and criminals go to church too and church attendance is no indication of moral character.

In my early 20s i have actually seen a pedophile trying to groom young girls in a church with my own eyes. The pedophile was a member of the church staff who handled the collection basket.

to the clergy especially : If someone in your congregation reports a crime being committed against them against a longtime church member , please do not take the side of the alleged perpetrator based on the relationship perpetrator has with the church.

Your focus should be on counselling the victim and helping them go through with the trail process.

This same principle should be applied to any other religious affiliation : Just because someone is in religious authority does not mean they have character

.
Here is an interesting case i'd like to use to highlight the issue :

"The virtual complainant (rape victim) had known the appellant (rapist) for approximately
four months, and would see him at church at least three times a week"

Natalie and Kelvin had something to discuss so they asked the virtual complainant and the appellant to take a walk on the road. The appellant asked the virtual complainant to go across the road with him instead to a place where there was a brick foundation.  There was some bush in front of the foundation. They were about 40 feet from the appellant’s house. They spoke initially about church and a camp they had both attended."

http://webopac.ttlawcourts.org/…/c…/CrA_05_25DD11may2006.pdf

What i find most interesting is that the rape took place minutes away from a church camp. This shows you how well these people compartmentalize their immoral activity .

‪#‎church‬ ‪#‎rape‬ ‪#‎sexcrimes‬ ‪#‎crime‬