African Child Abuse

The most appalling thing that can happen to a little girl is rape and premature sexual activity.

A documentary on the ABC (Australia) recently highlighted the work of an Australian doctor, Catherine Hamlin. In c1958 she and husband Reginald Hamlin responded to an ad for doctors willing to serve in Africa. Reg died 15 years ago and since then Catherine has continued what they started together in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's Capital. She is now well into her 80's and obviously nearing the end of her contribution.

Their hospital treats hundreds of young girls who, because of early pregnancies, suffer organ damage. The most prominent and worst being obstetric fistula. The hole(s) in the birth canal links to the bladder and/or rectum. The girls then leak urine or feces or both. They smell, are socially unacceptable, and are usually abandoned by husbands, families and friends. They have no link to their birth family.

The pain of these poor little girls is unbelievable. Some married at 8 or 9 years of age when sold by fathers rushing to get rid of them, are often pregnant just past their first period. The body is immature and the size of the pelvis such that painful labors ensue and may last for days.

During this time the child is confined to her grass hut away from the rest of the community. She struggles on alone in agony.

One woman labored for 10 days to deliver a dead child. The fetus usually dies from stress and the woman has severe damage to the organs around the birth canal. Constant pressure from labor gradually forces pieces of the birth canal to fall away leaving the hole(s).

Some women are so badly affected they cannot be cured and one teenager has to use a plug after 3 operations failed. The bladder was so badly damaged that only part of it was functional.

These women live for years in horrid conditions that most of us would not expect animals to endure. One child sat all night on pieces of wood because she constantly wet the ground under her.

These girls often have tattoos of the Christian cross on their bodies, and one had several on her face. The influence of the Church is obvious and yet they are denied proper counseling or family planning advice and the men who commit the abuse get away with murder.

Religious leaders who fail to prevent this abuse are equally guilty of the crimes. They don't appear to care about the welfare of these children and nor do they influence tribal chiefs into bringing about a change in attitudes.

The reason this can't and won't happen at their hands is addressed here on my site. The information it contains is supported by irrefutable evidence from many sources. My book, which explains it better, is also available through it.

You can also read this article on the role of the church in world affairs

This is a tragedy that the western world rarely gets to see and if it wasn't for the work of the 2 Dr Hamlins we probably would never know about it.

Unfortunately Catherine is aging and may not continue for much longer but there are now doctors who can take over, if the funds and the will is there. It is obvious she needs help from more young doctors willing to take on the role.

When they are cured the patients receive a new dress and scarf to see them on their way. But the shoes they arrived in are the same ones that were constantly saturated by urine beforehand. Usually they wear only thongs and have traversed rough country and mountains in them.

These girls often travel hundreds of miles to the hospital so not many actually make it. Many are killed along the way by tribal men, hunger or disease On arrival they wait their turn to be seen. If they are lucky they will be admitted.

Only 30 patients a week are treated but Dr Hamlin said there are tens if not hundreds of thousands of such cases throughout the country, and this is only what's come to light in Ethiopia.

Surely we can help and education and support for young women may stop the procedure which lands them into this mess in the first place. How about it all you millionaires, billionaires and wealthy companies?

African men are a breed that believes, like so many others in different countries do, that women are chattels. That means they can be owned and treated in abominable ways because they have no voice. The term 'chattel' aligns with 'cattle' which may be traded and treated like any other animal. Like their namesake they are beasts of burden.

Women have no voice when men are powerful and dominate the culture. That is the same in many western countries and even in Australia women are not yet equal to men in jobs, politics or opportunities.

Women around the world are abused and children are the subject of pornography and sexual violation in every country. So why pick on Africa?

In my research into religious practices Africa was one of the countries that came into my scope. Female genital mutilation ranks up there along with male circumcision as an abomination which is still practiced.

But in the case of the female the clitoris is removed, often with a piece of glass or obsidian. This is not only painful and dangerous but it is often not the end of the suffering. In some regions the vagina is sewn shut. Over time menstrual blood build up causes infection and swelling of the reproductive organs that is extremely painful. Many young women must die from it but there are no accurate figures to report.

On her wedding night the groom slashes open the vagina and allows the men of the wedding party to have first intercourse with the bride. The pain she goes through from repeatedly being raped after being slashed open is never reported. But that's how many African women are treated.

In a woman of some maturity pregnancy may not be such a pleasant experience. The uterus is stretched and the back aches. The child is heavy and the feet often push up under the ribs to cause incredible pain.

Just looking at a woman in this condition tells you of the stress the body is under.

Now a child of immature age who probably has never even had a period, or maybe just one, goes through this experience alone. In Ethiopia, as in many other parts of Africa, she is confined to her own hut, often just a grass enclosed space, where she sleeps on the floor. Here the baby is born with or without help from other women.

This young girl may never have experienced the birth of a baby in her family and may be completely ignorant of anything to do with it. In silence and alone she crouches and strains, pushing the little body out onto the ground. As it passes through her undeveloped vagina the ripping of its walls may take place. She may even bleed to death.

When she recovers from the birth she has a fistula, one or two holes into the bladder or bowel and from that moment on she is incontinent. Waste material from the bowels passes through the vagina on a continuing basis. If she is lucky it is only the bladder that is affected but urine smells and so does she. She has become untouchable by all around her. From now on she is isolated. If the baby survived it is reared by others in the family.

One day she may hear of the clinic and walk for several days to get to it. There some loving arms are waiting to take her in and help if possible to heal her. Then what? Will she go back for more of the same? Will she turn to prostitution in the city or will she try to get some kind of education to help herself?

Don't forget this is Africa and there are not the resources to pull her up out of her dilemma.