The new Sexual Offenses Bill was finally passed in the House last month without too much fanfare. (By the way the authorities at Gordon House and the Ministry of Justice need to do something about creating a usable Website which provides access to up-to-date information.) The new law is the product of much debate and advocacy, making significant progress in a number of areas, but also exposing once again our multiple prejudices and anxieties.

The bill addresses issues such as using the Internet to recruit children for sexual activities and human trafficking. However, we have maintained our ostrich-like denial of the fact that young men and boys can be raped.

A South African study found that 44 per cent of boys aged 18 years and under had engaged in forced sex at some point in their lives, and nine per cent (13,915 boys) reported forced sex in the previous year. (Does anybody have any idea what our numbers might be?) The South Africans changed their legislation in 2007 to recognise that boys and men can be raped. Here in Jamaica, that term will still be reserved only for the act of sexual violence committed against women and girls by men.

All this is because some people are fearful that if we recognise that young men and boys can be raped through penile penetration we are going to create an opening for the legitimation of consensual anal intercourse. It highlights the fact that our heterosexism makes us mistakenly equate same sex abuse with homosexuality. What this also indicates is the failure to understand that rape and similar sexual acts are acts of violence having little if anything to do with intimate human relationships.

The legislation does increase the penalties for sexual assaults of various kinds and allows that men and boys can be victims of such assaults. It increases and in most instances equalises the penalties for sexual offences whether committed against females or males. It recognises at least implicitly that women as well as men can commit a sexual offence against the opposite as well as their own sex.

It does not and cannot, however, deal with deeply entrenched attitudes towards and misconceptions of sexual violence among the general public and in particular among several key members of the team responsible for administering the system. Members of the police force and attorneys-at-law, for example, still need to be brought to the place where they confront their belief that female complainants are always lying and male complainants only got what they deserved since they are not "real men". Studies have shown that we do tend to see cases with teenage and adult victims as being less abusive than those involving younger children. Similarly, we tend to see cases involving members of the opposite sex as less abusive than cases involving members of the same sex.

Hypersexuality

We need to open up the area of human sexuality for rational public discussion and education. For example, there is limited understanding, much less acceptance of the fact that children are sexual beings and experience sexual stimulation from birth, but that this is different from having the ability to form the complex relationships of which sexual intimacy may be a part. Many times parents do not know how to respond to what are innocent displays of child sexuality, especially in an environment of public "hypersexuality" (excessive displays of, and interest in matters sexual) and an increasing number of attacks on children. Most parental communication about sex, therefore, consists of grim but incoherent warnings to their female children about the dangers of early involvement in sexual intercourse and to their male children about avoiding the consequences of unprotected sex.

Embarrassed parents sometimes resort to violent beatings and verbal abuse if they witness or receive reports that their young child has displayed overtly sexual behaviour. The only thing a child will learn from this reaction is that displays of sexuality are to be hidden from adult view.

One of the things we need to appreciate is the distinction between the sexual behaviours that are expressions of caring and love, and those behaviours that are actually violent demonstrations of the adult misuse of power. If we failed to recognise this fact we will not realise, for example, that while necessary, educating a young child about things like "good touch bad touch" provides that child with only limited protection.

The fallacy in educating children about what adults should and should not do is that it ignores the reality of the child's lack of power relative to adults, especially if that adult is a family member or friend. In the latter case, the objective imbalance of power is compounded by the power created by the emotional bond of affiliation or friendship real or desired.

In much the same way our efforts to monitor our children's use of the Internet will have limited success if we fail to acknowledge a child's interest in sex and romance and desire for affection and companionship which make chatrooms and other social networking sites so attractive.

We also have to be careful about calls for a return to values upheld by the Church and confront the role of religious beliefs in violence against women and in child abuse. What does "honour thy father and thy mother" mean when ones father or mother is the source of abuse? Religious teachings about the subordinate status of women and children and the importance of marriage, if not reinterpreted, will stand in the way of providing relief for victims of abuse who are living within the boundaries of legal marriage and the traditional family unit. We also need to be careful that distorted understandings of suffering and forgiveness do not allow perpetrators to avoid accountability. I know of at least one case where the first response of a member of staff in the Victim Support Unit to a young person who had recently been raped was to urge her to "forgive" the perpetrator.

Superiority

The public needs to develop a better understanding of the motivations and rationalisations of perpetrators of sexual violence and abuse. Our lack of understanding of child sexuality, for example, can sometimes give credibility to the perpetrator's argument that they were solicited by the child (some men almost make themselves out to be the victims in this scenario).

A sense of entitlement may be a factor, especially in cases of intrafamilial abuse or in other environments where men use a variety of means, including sexual ones to prove their superiority and power over others. I have heard men express the view that if they were the father of a particularly attractive young woman they would have to provide her first sexual experience.

The desire to gain or maintain power and control can arise in cases where the offender feels powerless or at risk of abuse. What better way to deny this than by demonstrating one's own control over this most basic aspect of another's existence?

Research is providing evidence that violence, in particular intimate partner violence, being sexually abused as a child or being subjected to forced sex, all contribute to higher rates of cervical cancer among women. Child sexual abuse contributes to high risk behaviours such as substance abuse, multiple sexual partners and violence including sexually violent behaviours. Being subject to sexual violence ultimately distorts our ability to form healthy relationships and has the potential to impact our long-term socio-economic status. Happily, many more persons are coming to appreciate that all non-consensual sexual actions are acts of violence and abuse and cause serious long-term harm to the victim.

The question is what is to be done, both to stem the tide and to deal with both victims and perpetrators? Of the 729 persons arrested for rape or carnal abuse in 2008, 71 per cent were between the ages of 16 and 35, and 35 per cent were between 12 and 20 years of age. On the other side, 1,464 children were treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries arising from sexual assault in 2008. Of this number 43 were boys. In a group of 23 adolescent girls engaged in an educational programme in Kingston, only one had not been sexually abused, in most instances by a family member. One girl asked, "Miss, whey God was wen mi fahda did a rape mi?"

Up-to-date legislation is important, but so are facilities to treat the victims and perpetrators of violence. Addressing this need cannot be postponed on the grounds of economics. In fact, failure in this area will only add fuel to the spreading fire.

Peta-Anne Baker is the co-ordinator of the Social Work Programme at the University of the West Indies, Mona. She may be contacted at pab.ja2009@gmail.com, or send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.