When the protector becomes predator – Tales about child sexual abusers

The sexual abuse and exploitation of children is a violation of human social and legal rights and has become one of the major straws that broke the camel’s back over the decades with significant consequences for global health and development.

While we cannot dismiss the massive social awareness and media campaigns that are currently ongoing towards the eradication of this social menace, it is noteworthy that there is a dearth of campaigns on how strenuous organisation work and imbalance of work-family life can contribute to the sexual abuse of children. As often expressed in the popular aphorism, “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop”.

This is in consonance with the popular Yoruba proverb: “Ise la fi n segun ise” (work is the antidote of poverty). Thus, diligence and hardwork are a major instrument for poverty eradication. Work is not only important for individual sustainability but also plays a key role in organisational effectiveness.

However, despite the relative importance of work and the tremendous contribution of employees toward organisation sustainability, it is crucial to note that the family and the home tends to be at the receiving end of all forms of sexual menace, especially those involving children.

A study conducted by UNICEF revealed that 1 in 8 of the global children (12.7%) had been sexually abused before reaching the age of 18. A similar study by WHO (2022) estimated that up to 1 billion children aged 2-17 years have experienced physical and sexual abuse with female victimisation 2-3 times higher than boys.

Being the basic unit of society, family plays a key role in child survival, protection, and development. The family is often equated with a sanctuary – a place where individuals receive love, protection, and shelter.

While it is naturally and constitutionally expected of parents and other members of the family to provide love, care, and protection to their children, this is not always the case. Gone are the days when children could feel parental love and discuss issues bothering them with their parents.

Nowadays, the 21st-century workforce has created a barrier between parents and children. Talcott Parsons, a prominent sociologist, argued that the extended family was effective for the needs of pre-industrial society but no longer practical in terms of what was required by 21st century industrial manufacturing. As such, the present economy demanded a more geographically and socially mobile workforce of both parents.

Unfortunately, what we see presently is pseudo-parental care with nannies, neighbours, schools and a little bit of social media communication for children to express their feelings. Parents, whose core duty it is, to inculcate virtues and values through effective socialisation processes, are absent.

Consequently, nannies and neighbours who have been saddled with the responsibility of playing the foreman role, many at times, mutate into predators to prey on the innocent children left in their custody.

Therefore, digging into the annals of sexual abuse in Nigeria is to begin to count the innumerable teeth of the aquatic snail. What is important to note is that strong strategies to end the tales of sexual abuse must begin with identifying some of the root causes of the problem.

As often said “everyone is a thief when the house becomes free”, this implies that people tend to commit crime when there is absence of a capable guardian whose presence could have mitigated crime occurrence. The above further resonates with the observation of Felson and Cohen (1974) that a crime will only be committed if a likely offender thinks that target is suitable and a capable guardian whose presence can avert the crime is absent.

Read also: How schools can improve child’s safety, curb negligence

When there is absence of parental care due to stringent work roles particularly when workers must stay at the office for longer hours to meet deadlines, meeting children’s social and psychological safety and wellbeing become uncertain.

Although, research has demonstrated that employee engagement improves organisational efficiency. However, if not managed properly, organisations have the risk of suffering workers’ burnout and low productivity.

To avert this problem, the organisation must integrate the work-family plan into their existing corporate policies. Similarly, sensitisation of working parents on how they can effectively manage their home and work is also critical in a fast-paced society like ours.

This may include weekly work leave for workers to spend quality time with their families. Recognising that home is the most common place where incidents of sexual abuse prevail, the parent must devise holistic strategies of checking up on their children’s mental and social well-being by providing a listening ear whenever issues that affect them arise.

It is hoped and believed that through effective adoption of work-family-responsible policies and campaigns, child sexual abuse will be reduced if not totally eradicated in most contemporary societies.

Olaniyan is the research assistant at the Institute for Work and Family Integration, Lagos. He can be reached on +234-8131993949 and [email protected]