COSTA RICA NEWS – Child sex abuse is a serious problem in Costa Rica. The Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI) – child welfare agency – reports having received 700 complaints between January and May of this year.
Last year there were a total of 1.747 cases, according to Rodolfo Meneses, of PANI’s Centro de Orientación e Información.
Meneses explains that 90% of the abuse occurs within a “circle of confidence”. “It may be dad, mom, close family member or caregiver who take advantage of the trust placed in them by a child,” says Meneses.
The process is complex. “When the PANI receives a complaint, we investigate and then have to determine if there is evidence of abuse and present it to the Attorney General,” explained Meneses.
In the cases of abuse the minor is given protection, such as relocation with a family or a shelter.
The latest available Estadística del Poder Judicial – statistics of the Judiciary – were for the year 2012, with 3.122 cases of sexual abuse of minors.
Cristian Darcia, coordinator of the Fiscalía Especializada en Asuntos de Género (Special Prosecutor for Gender Affairs), notes that when analyzing court records between 2009 and 2012, “it is evident that most cases occur within a context in which the perpetrator and the victim are known to each other, but not necessarily a relationship of kinship, but of trust.”
Authorities believe that many cases of abuse are not reported by the minor, with aggressors counting on the trust and closeness of the relationship, and in some cases the minor not even capable of understanding that their are victims of an abusive situation.
Darcia said that parents should explain to their children the importance of seeking help, and in turn, be supporting to indict those responsible. Parents whould also be aware of changes in the behaviour of their children.
This issue is complex and full of contradictions. The number of births to minor mothers here (13,000-17,000 annually – 500 of which are to girls under 15) should by itself suggest that sexual abuse of minors is a larger problem than reported here. Sex with minors is illegal here, and pregnancy is generally strong evidence of sexual activity, so sexual activity apparently becomes elevated to reported abuse on a very selective basis. Of course, teen prostitutes found in the company if foreigners are presumed to be victims of abuse, even if they are almost eighteen and self-supporting; but fourteen-year-olds giving birth are not, even if they are impregnated by much older men, unless they report abuse. Some clearer definitions would be helpful.
Good point expat in paradise. The extra horrible part is we put kids in fear of strangers (“Stranger Danger”) when chances are SOOOO MUCH higher that they’re going to be sexually, mentally, verbally or physically abused or neglected in their own HOME – or from someone around them.
Kids NEED to learn that they CAN TRUST people more & TO go to them to tell when someone is harming them – though that must be hard to do when the world hasn’t been such a safe place for them.
Imagine how WIDE SPREAD this problem REALLY IS since I would bet that VERY FEW kids report it!!