Heterosexual relationships a big cause for concern too

22.FEB.11

Editor: I must first congratulate you on trying to bring to the fore the plight of our young girls who are becoming pregnant as a result of statutory rape. Sadly that sad fact was lost as Vincentians instead choose to focus on the alleged homosexual activities of male teachers and Community College students.{{more}}

I am not saying that if there were indeed sexual relations that this is right; it is not. Equally wrong is the heterosexual relationships, present and past, by individuals in authority at our educational institutions, but no one seems to think that that must be condemned.

In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, we often turn a blind eye as female secondary, and sometimes primary, students, who would be much younger than our Community College students, are abused by teachers. We ignore even more when male secondary students are victims of these relationships with female teachers. Indeed, in some cases, this scenario is seen as cause for amusement. Yes, we need to make efforts to ensure that paedophiles are not left to prey on our children and we need to understand that they are more likely to be found in the heterosexual community.

Let us not get carried away by our homophobia and shout paedophilia whenever we talk about homosexual relationships and allow the real paedophiles to continue to walk among us, free to pry on our underage girls and boys. I wish that our police officers were as zealous in providing support, in finding the culprits who post nude pictures of our under-18 female students, or impregnate our little girls. Instead you are often told that there is nothing that they can do. I hope that the police are using all their investigating skills to find the persons who are responsible for raping those underage girls who gave birth. Please let them be as keen to raid the houses of these paedophiles. I listen to the excited chatter both on the radio and online and we see the rush to judgement, with violence being advocated as the solution, and I feel hurt for my country, a country where our moral antennas only seem to function in cases of homosexual activity, and where every other sin appears to be okay.

Concerned Citizen