Disturbing Cases of Abuse

The recent conviction of Josef Fritzl, although indirectly, seemed to have caused a coming out for daughters who suffered the same horrible fates in the hands of their fathers. Last March 27, a father and his son were arrested in Italy for allegedly raping their respected daughters while today in CNN, another similar case is being investigated in Colombia.The latter was the worst because the woman now 35 years old, has been allegedly abused since she was 5 years old, had 14 pregnancies and even if the man will be convicted he will only suffer 8 years in prison.

Hearing these stories saddened and enraged me at the same time thinking of the lifelong sufferings that these woman have to endure from selfish acts from the men, who in the first place ,should protect and take care of them. To know that these maladies are not exclusive to third world countries like Colombia and the Philippines and even first world territories like Austria and Italy have disgusting monsters, is not a consolation at all. It just disturbs me even more that even those people who came from countries considered to have a higher standing, politically, financially and socially are of the same evil blood when it comes to personal sexual gratification at the expense of their own flesh and blood.

I personally have seen a similar case that involves a kid who abuses his own cousin because of a film he saw on TV. It was a huge scandal in our quite little town and the girl, despite her delicate age, has to face up with the shame of being an abused child. The society condemned the kid and his family and they fled the town after the investigation. The father dared to go back one time but the wrath of the town and the family, which is his own as well, was still there. The town never forgive them but there has been several cases of that afterwards. Most of it were an outcome of these children/teenagers/men watching pornographic materials that they can easily get from the black market for pirated DVDs. There was even an incident where a parent caught her kids with their playmates trying out a bold scene in a movie. How disturbing!

I have read before that what drives a father to rape or abuse his child is the notion that since its his children, they are his property. The case is even worse in religious and patriarchal societies like the Philippines and Colombia where the father has the highest position in the family.

Also in poor countries where a big family usually sleeps together, the incidents of sexual abuse among children is higher because they are more exposed to desires especially if the men are on substance abuse like alcohol and drugs.

I still do not understand how a father can have sexual desires for his children and can go as far as exercising these desires on them. I find the act evil and the person mentally disturbed. There is not reason that can justify these acts and there should be a higher sentence for offenses like these than the 8 years in Colombia or the life imprisonment for Fritzl. Fritzl should also be locked up in a dimly-lit cell, alone and only just enough room for his whole body. For a man who seemed to have no remorse whatsoever for the crime that he committed, death penalty seemed to be a more appropriate punishment.