CUBA:
State-of-the-Art Centre
Minimizes Trauma of
Sexual Abuse
By Dalia Acosta
HAVANA, Feb 15 (IPS) -
The young boy speaks in
barely audible tones and
hardly looks up from the
stuffed animal that he
turns over and over in
his hands. The counselor
helps him, repeating his
words, prompting him to
continue, but without
ever asking "what
happened?" or "how did
you feel?" Despite the
boy’s visible anxiety,
the story slowly
emerges.
The sessions are taped
on two DVDs, one of
which will be used in
the trial while the
other will immediately
be sealed and archived
against any possible
allegation of attempted
manipulation of the
evidence.
It is the recording
itself that will be
presented in court. The
boy himself will never
be called on to testify,
and will not have to
face the perpetrator of
the abuse to which he
was subjected.
"The main objective is
to obtain tape recorded
proof that meets the
requisites for being
presented as evidence in
court," said Niurka
Ronda, director of the
governmental Centre for
the Protection of
Children and
Adolescents, which
opened in February 2005
in Havana and is the
only one of its kind in
Cuba.
The Centre dealt with
just over 100 cases in
2007, most of which were
referred to it by the
police, who received the
complaints, although
some victims came
directly to the Centre
itself. "We help anyone
who comes to us looking
for help," Ronda told
IPS.
In its first
comprehensive study of
violence against
children, presented in
2006, the World Health
Organization estimated
that 150 million girls
and 73 million boys
under 18 experienced
forced sexual
intercourse or other
forms of sexual violence
in 2002.
According to research,
an estimated 20 percent
of girls and up to 10
percent of boys have
been sexually abused at
some point in their
lives.
In Cuba, as in the rest
of the world, a large
proportion of cases are
never reported. In
addition, not only are
reliable figures hard to
come by, but the
government is still
"fearful" of releasing
whatever statistics are
available, said
sexologist Mariela
Castro, the director of
the Cuban National
Centre for Sex
Education.
A study by the Cuban
Institute of Legal
Medicine, based on 246
cases opened in 2001
involving complaints of
sexual abuse of children
and teenagers under the
age of 16, found that
over half of the victims
were between the ages of
11 and 15 and that 75
percent were girls.
The head of the Interior
Ministry’s office on
minors, Colonel Enrique
Pérez, told the press in
late January that these
cases represent less
than five percent of all
reported crimes.
"There is fear of
alarming the public,"
Castro, the daughter of
acting President Raúl
Castro, told IPS.
"Sensationalism causes
harm in any area. There
is a belief that by
talking about these
problems, they are blown
out of proportion, but
there is a need to deal
with them in an adequate
manner," she said.
Castro and Ronda concur
that in comparison with
other countries in Latin
America and the
Caribbean, children and
adolescents in Cuba are
at an advantage, given
the protections put in
place and the overall
educational level of the
population.
"These incidents are
reported more frequently
now than they used to
be. I think that’s
because there is a
greater openness to
information about and
understanding of these
issues. There are cases
that reach us
immediately, through
teachers. Children talk
a lot to their teachers,
especially if the
teachers are young and
feel close to their
students," said Ronda.
Nevertheless, she said,
few people know about
the Centre for the
Protection of Children
and Adolescents or are
aware of where to turn
in such cases or of how
to detect incidents of
child abuse. One of the
proposed solutions to
these problems is the
creation of a hot-line,
she added.
Ronda said most of the
cases involve
molestation without
rape, and that very few
cases of severe abuse
like rape are reported.
The information was
presented at a Jan.
28-Feb. 1 regional
conference on protection
of children, held in
Havana.
"When these things take
place, in most cases it
is between peers. For
example, a boy who does
not understand when his
girlfriend refuses to
have sex, and assumes he
has the right, and
blames the victim for
what he did. In three
and a half years of
work, we have never
received a case
involving the rape of a
little girl," she told
IPS.
The initiative, which
will soon be extended to
two other provinces, in
central and eastern
Cuba, is the result of
cooperation between the
Interior Ministry and
the British NGO Child
Protection Development
Trust, with the support
of several Cuban
agencies and the United
Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF).
At the Centre, young
victims of sexual abuse,
accompanied by family
members, are first given
time to relax by playing
games, using the
computer, or cuddling
friendly pets. They are
given their choice of
activity, and also
choose which of the
specialists they want to
work with.
The victim receives
exclusive attention, as
two cases are never
dealt with
simultaneously at the
Centre.
"During the preparatory
phase, there is no
attempt to diagnose the
victim, by their
behaviour. The aim is to
make them feel
comfortable and enable
them to channel their
feelings as they arise.
Sometimes when they show
up they are crying, or
vomiting, or chewing
their fingernails. We
have to work with them
for as long as they
need," explained Grethel
Ortiz, one of the
professionals at the
Centre.
To guarantee quality
sound recordings, the
sessions are taped in
the most isolated room
in the house, where the
ceiling was lowered,
carpeting was laid and
double-pane windows were
installed.
Two cameras were
installed from different
angles, to show that the
recording was done in
proper circumstances,
without the presence of
anyone who could
pressure the victim.
In an adjoining room,
family members, experts
and representatives of
the public prosecutor’s
office and the defence
watch the session live,
and through a system of
headphones remain in
contact with the
professional working
with the youngster --
the only person allowed
in the room with the
victim.
The way the Centre is
structured is part of
its success, Tony
Butler, the head of the
Child Protection
Development Trust, told
the press.
The Centre is a house
located in a quiet
residential area, rather
than a cold institution
staffed by people in
uniforms, he explained,
adding that everything
is set up so that the
children and teenagers
can relax.
The technology employed
at the Centre comes from
Britain, and is
certified for use in
that country’s justice
system.
In Cuba, the Supreme
Court approved the
procedure so that the
videotaped sessions with
the youngsters can be
used as evidence, in
order to avoid the need
for minors to testify in
court.
Under Cuba’s penal code,
sexual abuse is
punishable by fines or
by prison sentences of
two to 30 years or, in
especially aggravated
cases, the death
penalty. Incest is
considered an
aggravating factor.
Reforms to the 1997
penal code established
sentences of seven to 15
years for those found
guilty of commercial
sexual exploitation or
pornography involving
minors under the age of
16, and sentences of 20
to 30 years or capital
punishment if the victim
is under the age of 12.
However, minors who have
committed such crimes
are exempt from this
punishment. "In Cuba,
decree law 64, passed in
1986, establishes that
minors who commit crimes
are not subject to
criminal punishment.
There are no juvenile
courts or juvenile
lockups in Cuba," said
Pérez.
According to UNICEF
representative in Cuba
Juan José Ortiz, this
country is a model in
terms of protection of
children. "There is a
great tendency to
complain that ‘we have
no resources.’ Cuba is
proof that if the
political will exists,
the resources are
found," he said. |
