Back in December Sasha Wass responded to her inquiry about Saint Helena. She discovered that in her opinion on the finding the child abuse was not ‘rife’ on the island and that it was isolated to many specific families or pockets on the island.
I am not sure how to take this result. Perhaps, her research is only about the present time and not in the past. I myself was the victim of abuse in numerous ways, more then I could mention in this article alone. However, this abuse was not just contained within my family. Sure, certain family members were vile, but there were also random, calculated methods of cultural attack from men who lived on the island. I was targeted as a vulnerable little child no older then 9 years old. When I tried to approach my grandmother I was told to keep everything to myself mainly out of fear.
When my Grandmother died, I was unable to grieve properly as, I was so traumatized and petrified of what was to happen next. To this day I still have memories of her and what she was like. I was taken into care at 15 years old and protected for a time by the Salvation Army. They were wonderful people, but still all of my records from that time, were magically lost. I was told, when I tried to retrieve them today, that they were missing or thrown away. I sent numerous emails, and spoke to The Castle, and all records are gone.
Perhaps it was isolated in pockets, but I digress. What if it wasn’t? What if it was so rife and hidden by the decision makers that of course there was nothing to be found. The reason for that is everything was thrown away, or missing. One can not surmise that the authority were totally innocent. My own head teacher would cane me more then others. She knew that I had no family or a proper situation at home. She didn’t comfort me, rather she basically beat me with a cane for the most simple of situations. I hardly call being late because your being raped, a reason to receive bloody knuckles.
I recently spoke to a young woman from Saint Helena. She tells me of the horrors she endured. Like her I could have been pregnant sooner. Her uncle was the criminal in this instance, he raped her and her sister from the moment she turned 11. There is even speculation that one of her children was his, but perhaps we will never know. In fact, she even had a miscarriage at the age of just 12, surely that wouldn’t be proper.
Although I am grateful for any inquiry Saint Helena could provide, perhaps it should come from a source that is independent of the British Government. Miss Wass is after all one of only a few QC or Queens Counsel. Perhaps a journalist might have an interest one day, and really dig deeper into the culture.
The Saints are always great with the visitors, but it was what was culturally accepted by family. Perhaps the island was portrayed wrongly that it was a holiday destination for Pedophiles, similar to how Thailand has been portrayed. But perhaps the abuse was rife amongst families, more then we could ever know. Many a person might die before they reveal the truth.