Commitment to prevent child abuse

Let's not in our over enthusiasm miss the wood for the trees. As a young teenager during my summer holidays my father sometimes took me to work with him. I used to beg him to do so and I got some extra pocket money plus loads of new skills. If I do the same today with my own children or nephews I'm sure that some do-gooder will accuse me of child abuse.

Let's remember that the Commissioner for children, her staff and the staff of agencies like appogg are salaried employees and one of the best ways to tell us and their employer (the government) that they are doing a good job that justifies their salary is to 'discover' cases of 'child abuse'. Be they cases of a man sharing a longish kiss with a girl of 17 or my allowing my young son to go help a friend who has a computer business during his summer holidays in exchange for some pocket money.

In every age there are witch hunts - the targets of the present witch hunt are paedophiles. According to our laws these should include most 19 year old males who do little more than just hold hands with their 17 year old girlfriends. Woe betide said male if he is gay and does so with another male. For heaven's sake when I started university I had a girlfriend who was still in secondary school and as we say in Maltese kienet iddahalni fil but u tohrogni! Please don't tell me that such girls are 'children'.

I wonder what reforms Louise Vella is asking for. In a relatively recent case two paedophiles (they were so in the real sense of the word because they were found guilty of having had sex with ten year olds) got a prison sentence equivalent to ones handed out for cold blooded murder. Because of the publicity that the case got - they actually have a (real) life sentence.

Let's not in the eagerness to protect our children make future historians look at our actions with disdain and disbelief.

Well said Ms Louise Vella. I go further. Child abuse is not limited to paedophile activity only. Bullying as an excuse for discipline is a serious form of child abuse. Exploitation and profiteering off minor's backs is also child abuse. Instances of such forms of child abuse are found in football nurseries, children's clubs, youth centres, and schools (canteens, bars and shops close to schools, and a rotten school transport system).
Remedies are there and should be applied. Policy makers and executers know about these remedies and should be the first to be held accountable. Second should be the perpetuators of those abuses.

All children have the right to be adequately protected against paedophiles.

The govenment has the duty to ensure that paedophiles are kept away from institutions that cater for children, such as government , private and church schools, and that paedophiles are brought to justice in appropriately publicised trials.

The government has the duty to ensure that this is so by implementing the necessary reforms.