A notion of children as brides

Imagine, you are 12 years old and have not yet reached puberty. You are married to a man who is decades older for some reasons unknown to you nor have anything to do with you. Your education is now over. You are forced to do heavy housework, have sex with your husband and bear children for him. You are destined to live that life.

And yet this is not considered to be a child abuse issue in some places in the world.

“Child Brides: Stolen lives” is a special report which investigated the centuries-long tradition of child marriage in countries like India, Guatemala and Niger. This happens in villages where marrying off a young daughter is perfectly normal for families whose traditional value had taught them to do so.

On its website, UNICEF said: “Worldwide, more than 60 million women aged 20–24 were married before they reached the age of 18.”

Before watching “Child brides” I had been familiar with the concept of early marriages. Coming from a South East Asia country where the same traditional practice used to be very common, I had thought I would not be so surprised. But the images that I saw and the message it conveyed were very far from my own understanding of the subject.

The documentary was premièred in October 2007 by the weekly newsmagazine NOW on PBS and has It is available online on the main website and as DVD, which comes together in a packet with other guide tools, for free screening to raise people’s awareness on this subject.

The sex offender alerts scheme

The BBC News yesterday reported the confirmation from Home Secretary Jacqui Smith that the pilot scheme which has been operated since September 2008 to inform parents with more information about possible sex offenders to their children is to be extended.

The trial scheme could become a UK National scheme in which paedophile suspects or any convicted sex offenders will be alerted to parents for child protection. This scheme was put forward after a big campaign which was arisen after the death of eight-year-old Sarah Payne, who was sexually abused and murdered by convicted sex offender Roy Whiting. Sara Payne, Sarah’s mother, fought relentlessly in the campaign for the “Sarah’s Law” – which allows parents to have the rights to know if sex offenders are nearby – to be heard.

While the scheme could have given children “a better deal,” one heavy weighed issue could have resulted from this: an increase in vigilante attacks. In the past, there were alleged brutal attacks on child sex offenders. One of the examples is the death of 52-year-old Andrew Cunningham last December. He died after being repeatedly stabbed.

In an article on the Independent, speaking of this incident with Independent Radio News (IRN), Sara Payne also expressed her concern over these types of vigilante attacks and said: “It puts those of us who are fighting for disclosure back, and it gives sex offenders another reason to remain anonymous.”

“Now just do it.” Will you?

Lord Laming’s UK Child Protection Protection Progress report was published today following the request from Ed Balls, children’s secretary. It is one of the most heated topics in discussion in the House of Common. Expectedly it has received attention as well as enthusiastic responses from everybody: from members of the House to social workers and anybody else who felt the urge to take action into this.

After several severe failed cases to protect children, some of which have led to deaths such as Victoria Climbie and Baby P’s, tension and pressure have been building up particularly for the child protection work sector to do their job properly. Disappointment and criticisms have been addressed before. Some social workers who were responsible for the deaths of these children were sacked or put on trial. The public has become more concerned than ever. Child protection reforms “have not been given priority.” Is it finally now time for it to be?

Headlines on UK national online newspapers have been covering the issue in depth.

BBC’s article is quite concise and thorough enough to give the main points. The Guardian gathered a number of reactions from key figures on the subject. Ed Balls’ full statement response to Lord Laming’s report has acknowledged all the problems that had been addressed in it, as well as stating the government’s commitment effort now to improve child protection works.

Higher level of training is urgently needed for social workers still. This determinate response from the government might be a “good news” today, but we are waiting for these words to be put into actions. Public awareness will hopefully spur and “threat” for changes to come to help innocent children who are vulnerable in the hands of their own carers.

‘A child called “it”‘ made it big

Yesterday was the UK’s World Book Day. (Apparently the UK and Ireland have a distinctive “international” Book day, I don’t know why.) And so I was a bit extra motivated to write an entry about A Child Called “It” by David Pelzer – a phenomenal book back in 1995 when it first came out and still one of the most popular childhood abuse themed books to be mentioned up to date.

Whether or not you have read this book, you would still be able to guess its main plot by the obvious title. The story was told of a boy, Dave, whose childhood was brutally abused by his alcoholic mother in the most unimaginable ways possible. He was alienated from the family, emotionally and physically damaged and dehumanised by being called “the Boy” and later “It.” Dave was finally rescued at the age of 12 by his teachers.

His described childhood memory of that time was deeply horrific and violent that it could amaze you that how the young child could survive all those years. It is a tragic story told with a triumphant ending which breathes a sigh of relief into the readers. Well, the majority of them anyway. A lot of other people stay on the sceptical side, pointing at possible flaws and the incredibleness of such “reality” and questioning “the extend of truth” that was written in it.

The New York Times Best Seller Lists review is an example. The reviewer went harsh on Pelzer, asking many questions regarding “holes” in his story. This gushy review, on the other hand, would give you a general idea of what was said by emphathetic readers.

A Child Called “It” is David Pelzer’s first and most successful autobiographical book, which was followed by two sequels (The Lost Boy and A Man Named Dave) and three other self-help books. This is where even more controversies sparked for sceptics.

Being at the top of the New York Times Best Seller Lists for 215 weeks and a big marketing scheme, Pelzer has made it big. And according to an article on Slate:

“He’s rich. He’s happily married. He’s a loving father. He’s learned to deal with the memory of abuse. He’s a confessional author with nothing left to confess.”

It is something to think about. Has Pelzer been too much on himself, or has he just been “trying to help” other childhood abused victims?

Abandoned children in Bulgarian state institutions

The Woman’s Hour programme on BBC Radio 4 on March 3rd raised attention on the issue of physically and mentally disabled children suffering in unimaginably horrid conditions in Bulgarian institutions for children with disabilities.

It is a distressful thing to read about. What is even more bizarre is that it has somehow slipped by in the media without the appropriate attention from the public. In 2007, a 90-minute shocking documentary about an institution in Mogilino made by director Kate Blewett aired on BBC 4 and immediately received strong reaction from the UK and many human rights supported organisations. However, the Bulgarian government seems to have made no effort in dealing with the situation.

Kate Blewett’s documentary is here and the radio programme can be downloaded here.

Picture courtesy of True Vision Productions

The three guests on the show were Rosa Monkton, a supporter of the charity for abandoned children, Hristo Momov, the deputy chair of the State Agency for Child Protection in Bulgaria, and Vladimir Bereanu, a Bulgarian investigative journalist.

Ms. Monkton had published an article on The Times telling her story about the visit to eight institutions for children in Bulgaria.

Excerpt:

I asked to go into one of the rooms and picked up the nearest child, a living skeleton. And what was wrong with him? He was blind. Just blind. But now he was starving to death, rocking and banging his head against the side of his cot. On another visit, I asked the director, a paediatrician, about a child with Down’s Syndrome. Why was she here? “She has Down’s Syndrome, she will die.” I told her that this was not true, that these children could live fulfilled lives. Angered, she asked: “Are you a doctor?” No, I replied, but I was the mother of a child with Down’s Syndrome. “But you are not a doctor, so you don’t understand… these children have no use. They should never have been born.”

After Ms. Monkton described what she saw during her visit to the institutions as “indescribably awful”, “utterly horrific” and moreover reported that children with disabilities could be forcefully “removed” from parents, Mr. Bereanu responded with rage.

He said: “This makes me really angry,” and accused some information that Ms. Monkton had said to have gotten from Bulgarian internet chat rooms were “not any realistic, journalistic source.”

He then explained the reason for such situation to still be existed was due to changes in Bulgaria after Communism to “capitalism to the absurdity.”

Later on Mr. Momov was asked about the number of children who are still in these state institutions. The number he raised was 8,019 children, while one of the charities in Bulgaria reported the number of near 24,000. He also claimed a “drastical” improvement has been made recently to such state institutions.

Picture courtesy of True Vision Productions

According to the Bulgarian and South-Eastern Europe newspapers for English-speakers The Sofia Echo, the latest statistics have shown that: “Bulgaria, among all EU countries, had the largest number of abandoned children younger than three.”

It is true that Bulgaria is a late member to join to EU in 2007. It is also a fact that it is still a poor Eastern European country that is still catching up. But it is disturbing that such treatments to children exist in a poor EU country or even anywhere in the world.

Both the EU and the Bulgarian government should take protection of children as one of the top priorities. How “loud” the wakeup call must be before they wake up?

The damage has been done to these children and there is no going back.