SURINAME NEEDS A LOT do more for victims of sexual abuse. Not only by offering help afterwards, but especially by taking preventive action and doing everything possible to prevent abuse. The story that the True Time Monday brought about a woman who almost thirty years after her childhood sexual abuse still struggles with the consequences on a daily basis, society must wake up. This traumatic event should be a reminder that sexual abuse does not end once the act has been committed.
The consequences can haunt a victim for a lifetime and affect relationships, self-confidence and the ability to trust others. Children must be able to grow up safely. No one should feel that their own body, their own boundaries and their own safety are not respected. A society must be built in which perpetrators know that sexual abuse has serious consequences and that the chance to get away with it is not self-evident.
And perpetrators must know that Suriname no longer tolerates sexual abuse
The approach must start with information, early detection and taking reports seriously. Children need to learn that they can set boundaries and who they can go to if someone crosses those boundaries. Parents, caregivers, teachers and other adults need to recognize signals and know how to act.
The government, in particular the police, the Public Prosecution Service and the judiciary, also have responsibility in this. Victims must be treated in a respectful manner, heard and not given the feeling that they themselves are being held accountable. Fear, shame and the fear of not being believed should not be barriers to reporting a crime.
In addition, it must be clear where victims can go for psychological guidance, legal support and protection. Help must be accessible, even for people who do not have the financial resources to seek support themselves. Anyone who becomes a victim deserves the opportunity to recover and rebuild confidence in life.
The proposal of Brave Hera foundation to establish a register of convicted sex offenders in Suriname is to be welcomed, but must have a legal basis. Such a register can contribute to the protection of children and vulnerable people. It is about convicted persons and a system that serves security, not about public accusation without legal basis. In some countries it is even customary for the neighborhood/street in which a sex offender is going to live to be informed about this.
As a society, we must put a stop to covering up abuse, downplaying signals and imposing silence on victims. The woman who tells her story the True Time told, it deserves that the (traumatic) impact of what happened is not ignored. But it shouldn’t stop at just listening. The story must encourage action. It must be prevented that other children later have to tell how sexual abuse changed their lives, as happened to the person concerned.
Victims deserve protection, justice and help. Children deserve a safe childhood. And perpetrators must know that Suriname no longer tolerates sexual abuse.
