I recently had the experience of a lifetime. I got the opportunity to spend five weeks volunteering in Guyana, South America. I went on behalf of Youth Challenge International, along with 11 other Canadians.
While I was there, I got the opportunity to see things and meet people I would normally never get to see as a regular tourist.
One of the things I encountered - which turned out to be quite common - was the age at which girls, well children, were being sexualized and exploited.
There are many different issues facing the youth of a developing country, the strongest is education.
In-school illiteracy is rampant in Guyana, and sex education is almost non-existent.
And when parents can't provide a loving home or anything above the basic necessities of life, a girl will go for the first guy that comes around.
This makes girls extremely susceptible to older men.
In Guyana, 12 years old is a common age to be sexually active for girls, and it can be as low as nine, 10 or 11.
The girls are also getting pregnant at this age. It's common for say a 14 year old or 16 year old to have a few kids, and normally by multiple fathers, as it seems to be a common trend that with young mothers the older fathers will not stick around. It's also commonplace for males to have multiple partners of perhaps three at a time. For a 25-year-old male to have had 15 partners is considered a low number.
One would think in a society that has no problem with males having multiple partners, it wouldn't be faux pas for young girls to have children.
The fact of the matter is that it isn't accepted, and is a major cause for concern. In smaller communities, people watch each other's actions closely and whether or not actions are condemned, not much is done about what's going on.
The perpetrators are mainly just cast out of the community, only further isolating the girls.I had the chance to speak with a few girls who fit into this category of isolated and used. We can't change what happened, but we can at least listen to their stories.
The following is a conversation with a 13-year-old mother of a five-week-old child. The baby's father has run off. It's reported that he is 41, but she says he's 20. Her parents had him living with them and sleeping with her. She barely has an education and has no job.
How did you meet him? He was friends with my father.
Do you know about birth control and condoms? No.
What about stopping yourself from getting pregnant?
Yeah, like drinking contraceptive for five years.
When did you start liking boys? First kiss? Virginity?
Twelve year for all.
How old were you when guys started sucking their teeth at you (hitting on you)? Twelve years.
How do your parents feel about your pregnancy? Angry.
What's HIV/AIDS? I don't know.
Do you want us to tell you about it? No.
Do you have any friends that you can hang out with?
There's no one around here.
Another conversation revealed a girl who is "married," does not attend school, and lives in almost complete isolation. She is reported to be 13.
Are you married or have a partner?
Yes, it be a year this year.
How old is he? 36
How did you meet him? A friend, last year
Are you pregnant or are having sex?
Have sex but no pregnancy.
Do you know about birth control and condoms?
We know about condom but we never use it.Stopping yourself from getting pregnant? No.
When did you start liking boys? First kiss? Virginity?
Twelve, I never kiss a boy until I come with him.
How old were you when guys started sucking their teeth at you? Thirteen year.
How do your parents feel about your relationship?
I have a step one, and a father. I do not take this man in front of them because of the treatment they give to me. When I come here I was 14 years old.
What's HIV/AIDS? I don't know.
Do you want us to tell you about it? No.
Do you have any friends that you can hang out with? No, I stay with him.
There was one last girl that I wished to interview, however her parents were hiding her and would not let me, or any other community member have contact with her.
She was 12 years old, and pregnant.
When asked who the father was, she would say her brother's name and her father's name.
This type of situation is not uncommon, but is harder for an outsider to see because the family will hide these circumstances. I was told that when the child is born the parents will claim the child as theirs on the birth certificate to avoid trouble with the law.
These problems are hard, and also heartbreaking. What really struck me as odd was the fact that Guyana's age of consent was 16 years old, and Canada's is 14.
However because of our education system and support systems including the Ministry of Family and Children, there are so many options for young girls here in Canada.
I hope that this never changes and only improves with time. I hope we realize that these dangers do exist, and that these things can occur, and also do occur in our society.
The very lest we can do is listen to their stories and educate our children as much as possible. For our children are the future.
