I sit and ponder what the best course of action would be. Should I open a can of worms or let sleeping dogs lie. If I let sleeping dogs lie then they will only be angry when they awake. The torment that I suffered on a daily basis is not something that anyone should ever endure, let alone that of a young child.
I tell the truth what I write and always will. One thing that has to be realized is that it didn’t just happen to me it happened to many other women as well. I am not saying that the police turn a blind eye but perhaps they were simply not trained to deal with the situation. There main crime they dealt with was when young men would have a brawl on a Saturday night after drinking to much. How strange it was, that I lived in a dark world, that a Saturday night fight, was more of a crime then rape, molestation or child abuse.
On the Island, not even child abuse was regarded as a crime. I recently saw a petition online that was written by people originally from St. Helena. Many of those folks now reside in the United Kingdom, just going about there every day. They compiled this petition on Facebook to claim that child abuse, or corporal punishment was ok. Their argument is, that they were punished with the rod, and they are ok. I personally feel that they are in denial.
If hitting and abusing children was a helpful way of punishment, then one hit would resolve any misbehavior. You wouldn’t keep striking your child day in and day out. How would several beatings make a child better. The only thing it would do is perpetuate a future culture of continued beatings among further generations.
I don’t regret reporting the two men who abused me. I realize they might have a family now. They may have been married and have children and grandchildren. But in reality they should not even be allowed near them. They abused me. They forced me into the bushes and performed and forced me to do awful things. Things that I would never wish on anyone. They lived a life where they took what they want when they wanted it, without recourse.
My pain is huge, and the justice that will be received will be a way to help me cope with it. I don’t believe that it stopped with me. I believe they kept doing it as long as they could, and God help anyone if they are still doing it today.
Poem I wrote when I was 14
Fighting on a
Saturday night.
Young men prosecuted,
Domestic violence, sex and child abuse,
un-noticed and deep rooted.