The editor of The Sunday Times (24/08/08 p. 24) is right. “It has not been a good month for children.” The editor wrote that it was not a good month because two different persons were accused of child abuse. A 63- year-old grandfather pleaded guilty to raping three of his grandchildren and a hotel manager was accused of committing sexual acts with a 14 year-old boy.

I understand what he wanted to communicate; but perhaps he isn’t right. Perhaps it has been a good month for children. It was a good month because at least two perpetrators were caught (one of them is still accused and so presumed innocent). During other months abuses also occur but no one is brought to court. There are still too many abusers out there committing their horrible and most vile crimes and not getting caught.

Child abuse happens regularly in different ways and forms. Sexual abuse is just one manifestation. There are other forms. Children are robbed of their childhood also as a result of physical and psychological abuse, not to say torture. There are too many children living in environments which destroy them and their innocence. There are too many children savagely beaten by one or both parents.

Children suffer when their parents constantly quarrel in front of them or where one parent physically abuses the other or when their parents separate. Constant verbal and psychological abuse can destroy a child as much as sexual abuse.

Hundreds of children suffer in silence and tears.

It is a pity that many do not abhor these abuses as much as they abhor sexual abuse and do nothing when they come to know of their existence. Those who know of such abuses and remain silent deserve harsh condemnation as well.

Therefore when abusers are taken to court it means that it was a good month for children.

To register or not to register

Should there be a register of child abusers?

My answer is a definitive yes. The discussion should centre on who to include and to whom such a register should be available. Should it include only those convicted of serious sexual abuses or should it also include the names of those convicted of serious abuses even those of a non-sexual manner?

I think that a good case can be made for a register that includes more than just sexual abusers. If a person has been found guilty of physically abusing his or her own children should he/she not be registered so that one assures that he/she will not be given employment or positions in voluntary associations which put him/her in constant contact with children? One can say that physical abuse is easier to detect than sexual abuse so there is no need for a register in this case. On the other hand one can take the safe option of registering the abuser so as to avoid taking risks.

Who or which organisations should have access to this register? As a minimum one can say that the police and those state agencies involved in the care of children should have access to it.

But shouldn’t voluntary organisations working with children, educational establishments, also have access to the register? Otherwise how can one be sure that abusers will not find themselves taking care of children?

I think that there is a very good argument for including these institutions among the list of those who have access to the register.

A more difficult one to crack is whether the register should be available to people living in the same area as a convicted child abuser. I see arguments in favour and against.

That is why there should be a national discussion and a decision about this register in the shortest possible time.

Helping abusers

I’ve used strong terms about abusers. The subject demands such harsh words. But let us also remember that abusers are human beings as well. Whatever is decided should not be decided out of a spirit of vindictiveness.

The common good and especially the good of those who are vulnerable should guide us. We should also be guided by the belief that abusers need help and they should be given all the help they need. Society should be firm but it should also be humane, even with those who abuse since this spirit of humanity can help heal them and integrate them – when and where possible – with the rest of society.

Licensed to abuse

While all the forms of abuse I mentioned above are illegal, there is a form of legalised and licensed abuse. I refer to certain TV, video games and Internet sites. Children from a very tender age are subjected to hours of all sorts of violence presented to them as entertainment by myriad TV stations. Many video and computer games also glorify violence. Pornography is freely available on the Internet. Children do have easy access to it independently of what parents think.

It is a pity that while parents say that they want to shield their children from abusers they let TV, the Internet and video games baby-sit their children with the danger that they will corrupted by nasty content that is easily available.