The Tribune

IF there is one thing this past week has shown, it is that we are ill equipped for a discussion of the issues surrounding sex crimes and underage children.

The public commentary surrounding the issue has been prompted by a case in which a 40-year-old man was given a sentence of four years in jail after having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

The first official to comment on the case was Franklyn Williams, the acting director of public prosecutions, who faced calls for his resignation after saying when asked about the case that the country has a “generation of highly sexualised young people” who sometimes “engage in risky behaviours”.

While he protested that he “said nothing about the victim. I said absolutely nothing about the young lady,” it seemed certain he was not speaking about the 40-year-old man and blaming him for the actions for which he was guilty.

Also facing criticism was State Minister of Social Services Lisa Rahming, who told reporters over the weekend that she didn’t entirely blame the child – that would be the victim – said she believed the minor was just “misguided”. She said: “She was misled, she was a minor and that doesn’t mean that minors cannot make good decisions. What I look at it is, if a child is placed in a vulnerable position anything is likely to happen. Think of when adults are placed in vulnerable positions. They sometimes make irrational decisions and so I looked at it as she was misguided.”

The greatest focus perhaps fell on National Security Minister Wayne Munroe, who last week said that he thought the sentence imposed on the 40-year-old man was too severe, and that had he defended the man in court he would have argued that it was not rape and that the girl consented.

After he said that, there was an angry response, prompting him to issue a further statement saying that he “deeply” regrets his comments had “caused concern”. You’ll note that is not an apology for his actual words, however.

He went on to say that “anyone who has sexual intercourse with a child under 16 is disordered” and would go to prison. He said he was seeking to provide his legal expertise in his comments – and that the goal in such cases was to “punish predatory behaviour and to deter others from engaging in such behaviour”.

You will note in all the words spoken by the individuals above, some talking about “risky behaviours”, some talking about being “misguided”, some talking about issues of consent, there is barely a word of criticism for the actual criminal, the man being sent to jail.

The behaviours being criticised are those of the victim, not the grown man who found her on Facebook and initiated a relationship with a child.

Such comments brought criticism from across the political spectrum. Ann Marie Davis, the wife of Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, said at the weekend that she thinks the maximum sentence should be given to those who violate children, saying it “enrages her so much”, adding: “It affects them for the rest of their lives. It destroys a child – someone who has the potential of doing so much more. Once you destroy a child’s life, I think everyone should get the maximum sentence. It makes me that angry.”

And her husband, Prime Minister Davis, made his own statement, saying on Twitter: “Let’s be clear: grown men should stay away from children. The law is designed to protect children, who cannot meaningfully offer consent, and it should be enforced to the fullest extent.”

Mr Davis is absolutely correct. That others within his administration cannot find it within themselves to offer a full-throated defence of victims of sex crime but rather seemingly cast blame must be a source of frustration to the Prime Minister, as much as it has enraged many who heard the initial comments.

It is within this atmosphere that Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, with the noble intention of seeking to “further protect minors” has suggested raising the age of consent to 18 years old.

While we are still casting blame on children too young to consent to sex, it seems almost impossible to have a sensible discussion on such an issue, but we absolutely should be discussing issues surrounding the health of young women, the exploitation of young women, and ways to defend them from predatory behaviour of older men.

Are we ready to have that discussion? After the past week, it is hard to believe that we are.