Man accused of raping girl, 12

Marianna Galea Xuereb

Nov 8th 2008, 01:14

While I agree with Ms. Whitehead that children should dress up as children and not as mini femme fatales, I can vouch from personal experience and conversations with other women (who have shared their experiences with me) that dressing decently and behaving impeccably is no guarantee against attempted seduction and rape. And this applies just as much for adult women as it does for young girls.

I believe Ms. Whitehead means well but comments such as hers make it even more difficult for those who have been abused to report molestation, unwelcome advances and attempted or “successful” seductions and rape.

Generally if a girl is dressed skimpily, too tightly or too attractively when such terrible experiences occur she feels that she may somehow be at fault for what happened and refrain from reporting. But a girl wearing, decent, ordinary clothes when subjected to a heavy pass/rape/attempted rape will generally find it even more difficult to report such a thing because she fears that no one will believe her – which is infinitely worse than being made to feel that you have, somehow, “asked for it”.

Maria Whitehead

Nov 8th 2008, 00:10

My point was only to open a broader vision. Many comments here suggest that the government should be made responsible in diminishing these events by imposing tougher punishment and introducing a sex offenders list, but I believe parents and society at large have the same responsibility by protecting our children better and thus preventing them from being in situations they are not mature enough to handle just yet. I agree with t farrugia in stating that everyone should be free to wear what they want and feel safe, however I also feel that children do not fully understand societies problems and how their desire to look and act like adults is in turn making them more vulnerable to sexual predators.
Again, no relation to this article as i do not know or pretend to know what has happened in this event. But a simple opinion to some comments below about responsibility as we are too fast in pointing fingers at the government and law courts and less at seeing what goes on inside our homes.

L Schembri

Nov 7th 2008, 22:58

A 12 yr old girl! Noone has the right to hold/touch/rape anyone, especially children! I believe firmly that whatever they wear, a girl of 12yrs, although she might imitate some Hannah Montana or an idol, she is still a child. I will never believe that a man who rapes a child of 12 yrs can ever think that the girl is older.
I agree with Mr Agius and hope that such criminals once convicted are severely punished!

alex coppola

Nov 7th 2008, 20:02

Prosit Mr. Dennis Agius. I agree with you 100%. Yes punishment for such offenders should be AT LEAST 25 years imprisonment with community work as the harm done on the victim is irrepairable.

sabine grech

Nov 7th 2008, 13:20

what is the point Mrs Whitehead?

t farrugia

Nov 7th 2008, 13:17

@ maria whitehead - it is true many of them wear clothes to show their bodies and not just their bellies. while I agree that children should be children, I do feel that a person has the right to dress as they please without being afraid of being raped. Having said that this case is still ongoing and the accused is innocent until proven guilty.

maria whitehead

Nov 7th 2008, 03:57

Let me clarify in advance to my comment. I do not know any of the parties involved and thus my comments are not directed to any and are not an intention to judge on this particular case. However, I would really like to see changes in parent's attitude toward their daughters as well as change in legislation. I have seen far too many young girls dolled up like pop stars walking the streets in crop tops, short skirts, glittery make up making themselves an obvious target. Let children be children for a while longer .. they can be "trendy" without looking trashy or showing off their bellies.

Marianna Galea Xuereb

Nov 6th 2008, 20:34

Well said Mr.dennis agius ! The long term mental damage AND risk of lumping their victims with any one or more of a multitude of existing STDs – many already identified by medics and others still to be “discovered” by researchers and not all of them curable.

But still local authorities keep refusing to review laws or compile a publicly accessible register of child abusers and sex offenders. In this country the human rights of criminals AND the latter’s right to privacy AND their right to be given a second, third, forth…umpteenth chance take precedence over common sense and the right of ordinary citizens to have adequate access to information that might help them protect themselves or their dependants from known criminals

Marianna Galea Xuereb

Nov 6th 2008, 19:28

This man has not yet been convicted. But Yes, I believe that rape and abuse in general are becoming more frequent mostly because local laws do not offer an adequate deterrent. The rampant availability of pornography – especially the type combining sex and violence - probably also contributes to increase in such crimes, as does the fact that we do not yet have a publicly accessible register of child abusers and sex offenders like most other civilized countries do.

In the Maltese Islands people who are convicted – beyond any shadow of doubt - of such crimes still retain the liberty to keep seeking opportunities for further abuse without any hindrance whatsoever simply because we do not have such a register and perversely, local laws protect the identity of abusers and newspapers are generally barred from divulging their names. So in practice there is, for example, nothing to stop a know-to-the-police child/abuser sex offender from, say, offering private tuition at his/her home, volunteering as a baby sitter, acquiring employment in a school or youth club or becoming a volunteer youth leader or playgroup leader.

Joseph Schembri

Nov 6th 2008, 18:37

Rape is a terrible thing, especially on a child. Evil too is a false accusation of such a thing and that is why I applaud the decision of the magistrate to ban the publication of the name of the victim and the ALLEGED perpetrator.

dennis agius

Nov 6th 2008, 14:55

It looks like rape is becoming more frequent. Should the legislator raise the punishment for such crimes. are we taking into consideration the mental damages the people abused have to suffer? ACTION PLEASE!