Crimes against children have evolved, and there is a need to change the mindset on how children are best protected. The harrowing ordeal of a 14-year-old girl who was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and then left gagged and tied is yet another warning.

The trauma felt by the victim is unimaginable. The teenager’s family was impacted by what happened, and the community has been shaken once again. This is not the first incident of such a nature to have happened. The frequency of these crimes is increasing, and our young girls are no longer safe from predators.

There was a similar incident last year when a young girl was duped into getting into a taxi and later found drugged and tied up in a bush. There was also an incident where a teenager was offered a ride after school but was taken to a rural area, luckily, he managed to escape. There are incidents where young girls are sexually attacked inside buses, especially when they are told to vacate their seats and sit on the laps of men.

These incidents show the dangers that exist in modern-day Samoa. We have grown up in a community where we think our children are safe, but that is not the case. Yet, we continue down the same path of not protecting our children. The age of information has played a part in exacerbating sexual offences against children and young girls. Access to illicit material and the distortion of truth on what is acceptable are a challenge to parenting and to protecting children.

Monitor what your children are watching and who they are in contact with. We live in a time when young minds are ruled by the power of likes. Some will go to extreme extents, dance and dress in a manner not appropriate, and some will just put anything on social media for likes. Children have no idea who is watching. The internet also brings with it dangers. Some people are out there grooming young women and children. This is the truth, and denying it or turning a blind eye to it will not change this fact.

Parents themselves are hooked to their devices. Then there is the problem of gambling – Bingo to be exact. How many nights a week are children and girls left on their own or at a neighbour’s house so the elders of the family can spend over three hours gambling?

Statistics indicate that unsupervised kids are at greater risk of accidents, and harm by strangers, siblings, or friends, and are more apt to commit crimes than those under the care of an adult. Experts strongly recommend that you not leave children under 10 at home alone for any extended time.

These actions indicate a breakdown within the family construct. It shows a greater breakdown in the societal construct because it has become accepted to attend Bingo every night, even if that means leaving young children at home.

The most number of cases being dealt with by the court are sexual offences and in most cases, the perpetrators are known to the victims, who are often children. Such is the decay gripping society but instead of dealing with it, the matter is never spoken of because it will bring ‘shame’ to the family.

The churches need to step up their game. Churches need to look at the issue. They need to deal with this pandemic that is morally and spiritually corrupting. It is simply evil, and if that is the case, all churches in Samoa have a role to play in ensuring the safety of girls in their own homes.

More than anything, parents need to start realising that parenting is more than feeding children and sending them to school. The world has evolved and so has the dangers. Know the dangers faced by young girls and children, and do something about it. And if a child has been wronged, do not hide it because you think shame will fall on the family.

Just because we continue to pretend that there is no problem, does not mean that the problem has gone away.