By Omar Bihmidine
Morocco World News
Sidi Ifni, July 9, 2012
The association of “Don’t Touch my Child” has exposed shocking statistics relating to the cases recently reported about sexually abused children. In Shrarda, for instance, the sexual abuses reported this year have escalated to 130 cases compared to 101 cases in 2011, representing a 30 percent increase.
Hence, the association calls for securing and protecting the rights of children and taking to court anyone caught sexually abusing them. It also calls for giving the perpetrators their just desserts by taking the strictest measures possible at court against them. The child rights activists think it a duty to punish the perpetrators in the presence of the society.
During a study day organized by the association, the activists, including lawyers and parents, stressed that victims of sexual abuse must be given ample protection and psychological therapy for their traumatic experiences. So as to help these victims integrate easily into the society, the association recommends taking enough precautions against any similar cases in the future and providing healthy and social protection for the victims.
In the same vein, many activists condemned the act of men getting married to minors, for sexual abuse perpetrators may take advantage of this as a pretext to escape imprisonment. Participators in the event called for setting up a national network to combat any sorts of sexual exploitation.
Child rights activists pointed out that there is a dire need for launching sensitization campaigns in as many public places as possible. Equally beneficial is having recourse to the media to warn the public opinion against the jeopardy and struggles our children are in. Reacting to each sexual abuse case at a time, activists believe, no longer pays off, the fact that necessitates thinking of other solutions.
Najat Anouar, a rights activist, added that “each one of us must assume responsibility for all that has befallen our innocent children now that the constitution itself has called for impressing on civic society the obligation of talking on behalf of each other’s families, our children included.”
