A 63-YEAR-OLD man was sentenced to ten years in prison on Monday for sexually abusing his mentally and physically handicapped son over the past 14 years.
Police began investigating the man, who lives in an undisclosed village, when he bashed his nine-year-old daughter six months ago and an unknown individual reported the incident.
Also on Monday, in a separate case, the district court of Nicosia charged an 80-year-old man with sexually abusing the same handicapped boy and his nine-year-old sister. The man has pleaded not guilty and will appeal the case on May 8.
This heinous string of sexual abuse may be less-than-shocking considering some of Cyprus’ recently reported sex crimes.
With a 43-year-old man from Nicosia being held for allegedly raping a 58-year-old woman on Sunday night, and three teenage girls being questioned over the weekend kidnapping, beating and sexually assault of a 19-year-old girl, one might wonder whether or not sexual violence is on the rise in Cyprus.
“It seems so,” social psychologist Stravos Stravrou explained, “but we’re not sure if there is an increase in these types of offences, or if there are simply more reports.”
According to Anita Koni, principal officer at Welfare Services, the number of reported cases of sexual abuse within the family has more than doubled. Whereas in 1998 12 cases of abuse were reported, there were 28 and 27 cases reported in 2000 and 2001 respectively.
Although with increased social awareness it has become easier for victims to come forward, there are still many more cases that go unreported, making it difficult or impossible to accurately estimate figures.
“Many cases go unreported because people are afraid to go through all the publicity,” Koni said. “Also, because the subject is so sensitive people don’t like to go through this procedure.”
Judges in Monday’s conviction involving the 63-year-old man and his handicapped son were concerned by the fact that the situation was not reported sooner by the village community.
“It’s a very well-hidden secret, either within the family, or within the community,” Koni said. She emphasised that without someone coming forward to report such behaviour, welfare services are powerless. “It’s the responsibility not only of the family but of the community in general.”
As to why an individual might commit such a crime Koni said there is no simple answer. “There has not been any research done in Cyprus on this subject, but other research shows that many of these people were abused themselves,” she added.
Stravrou pointed specifically to the role of the family in creating or preventing a potential sexual offender.
“Good parenting during childhood can help young individuals develop a mature and solid character,” he said. “But in families in which children experience violence or rejection, they don’t manage to develop their morality and they are prone to deviant behaviour.”
In cases where children are sexually abused, the offender is often someone with low self-esteem who wants to feel powerful in some way.
“Sexual abuse mostly happens from a person who has some relationship with the child,” Koni said. “When you sexually abuse a child, it’s an exercise of power: not just physical strength but mental and emotional as well.”
The best way to deal with sexual abuse, says Koni, is to focus specifically on preventative measures. If sexual violence is a vicious cycle, where abused children subsequently become abusers, educating young children so that they are prepared to decipher and respond correctly to abuse is crucial.
“It is very difficult to identify sexual abuse even if a social worker goes to the house,” Koni said, “So the best thing is to have preventive programs, in school for example, that equip children so that they can identify what is a good touch and what is a bad touch and to provide them with someone to talk to whom they can trust.”
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
