Child sex abuse: On hope in the new land
"The words
They hang on a tree
The lyrics
They sing to me."
I'm in the land of cable cars, hilly tram lines and a million lil' Chinatowns on street corners. Red lanterns over shophouse doors, hurrying feet along paved floors.
They ask why I started working on child rights. It was a promise I had made to myself, I tell them.
To help children, those who have suffered abuse, as well as adult survivors. To me, like breathing. I had to. Because not to do so was never an option.
When I speak of the sub continent, about the suffering of the little ones, their eyes widen. They are pained.
I talk about rape videos taken by the perpetrators themselves: "impudent" is too mild a term. They care not that their faces could clearly be seen in the video. Their joy is in the humiliation of the victim. Her face is seen. And her life thus destroyed.
What can we do, they ask, as they listen to me. Pens bobbing furiously, hovering over their notebooks. The corners of their mouths taut and tense. Eyes angry now.
These ladies, they had come from the motherland. Now abroad. News from afar can herald so much pain!
I look at their long, black hair, nicely coiffured. Slim silhouettes. An accent which does not betray one's roots. Freedom and liberty in this new land. So much promise, so much hope.
"We will work on this," I said firmly. "Harness technology to help identify and catch the culprits, and make them realise that there are consequences for their actions."
And stem the tide of violence, if we cannot eradicate it altogether.
Read part 30 here.
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Read part two here.
Read part one here