QCOSTARICA – In the first two months of the year, 14 minors have been victims of alleged sexual exploitation, an adult offering money in exchange for sexual favors.
That is the figure reported by the Children’s Welfare Agency, th Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI).
Of the 14, six cases occurred in January, the remaining eight in February.
To ensure the number of victims doesn’t increase, the PANI has launched a 911 campaign to report any abuse.
The PANI campaign, in conjunction with the National Commission against Commercial Sexual Exploitation (Comisión Nacional contra la Explotación Sexual Comercial CONAES) and Casa Presidencial, is called “Romper Las Cadenas” (Break The Chains).
The PANI reports that last year there were 194 cases sexual exploitation of minors. An average of 16 cases a month.
I recognize that the law makes no distinction between minors of different ages, but it would be helpful to see a breakdown of the ages of these minors. There is an world of difference between a minor of 13 or 14 years and one who is just short of age 18. I don’t condone sex with any minor, and I realize that ignorance is no defense, but it is easy to see how a mature-looking 17-year-old could be mistaken as an adult and may pass herself off as such. I don’t advocate any change in the law regarding the sexual exploitation of older minors, but I’d like to see a more serious charge for sex with children under age 16.
Actually, the penalties do vary by the age of the minor, and if memory serves (I skimmed the law once), this is one of the few sensible laws in Costa Rica. The law comes down hard on genuine abuse of kids, less so the older the victim is.
My moral qualms about this is that I don’t like it being open season on 18-year-olds. I’ve known too many guys who pride themselves on passing on minors only to exploit the hell out of 18-year-olds and believe that’s OK. However, I have no idea how to effectively legislate this, so suspect it’s best that nobody tries.
On another note, just from the article, I have no earthly idea how PANI comes up with its numbers, and I don’t believe them. The folks at PANI hopefully don’t believe them either, though by the time they get reported by the press, the numbers are reported as if they’re facts. Odds are that these are only the cases that PANI can document–and the tip of the iceberg.
Also, without looking up any numbers to be specific, using the usual ratio of victims per 100,000 in the population per year, the rate of sexual abuse reported by PANI is roughly equal to the homicide rate, not especially high.
Hard to know what the real numbers are, though. It’s important to identify real problems and take corrective action, while at the same time it’s important to avoid inventing epidemics and wasting money on bureaucrats battling the phony epidemic. Sadly, we aren’t getting much in the way of facts.