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Josef Fritzl, 73, imprisoned his own daughter and abused her as a
sex slave for 24 years and she gave birth in the cellar dungeon to
seven children. One died and he incinerated it in a furnace. This is
a shocking wakeup call for many Europeans, especially the people of
Austria. The fact that he was a sex tourist in Pattaya, Thailand,
adds to the horrific revelations. Was it there that he increased his
addiction to sex with children, even his own? How many more European
sex tourists have developed such addictions in the Philippines,
abusing children nonstop with impunity and then repeating it in
their home countries? His punishment may be just a few years in
jail, so lenient are the Austrian laws.
Why are we gasping in horror at this latest
Austrian case of incest and child abuse? Yes, it is particularly
horrific, but child abuse and incest are everywhere. Every few days
a new case is brought to the Preda children’s home for treatment
and protection. We are almost beyond shock, although the latest case
beats all so far. The sexually abused child is only two years old.
The suspect is a 71-year-old man and his relatives are covering it
up.
In Eldorado, Texas, more than 463 children were
rescued last month from a remote ranch where they were held by a
religious Mormon cult. As many as 31 of the 53 girls aged 14 to 17
are pregnant or have given birth. The youngest pregnant child is 13
years old. One imprisoned teenager “married” to a 50-year-old
man said that she was brutally beaten by her “husband.” The
younger children, including boys, may have been sexually and
physically abused, too.
Hundreds of thousands of abducted and imprisoned
children are being held as sex slaves all over the world, as
estimates put it. Every society must look into its dark basements
and cellars of abuse and face the horrible and unpleasant truth that
trafficking of children and child abuse is common in every place and
the police ignore it most of the time, or are part of it.
In the Philippines, child sex slaves are sold on
the open market. Walk into many of the sex clubs and young underage
girls are gyrating in bikinis and offering sex to tourists. So
young, their bodies are undeveloped. The trafficking and
prostitution of teenagers is generally tolerated. The authorities
issue the operating permits and licenses. All efforts to expose and
rescue the children are blocked with government noncooperation. Few
foreign sex tourists are tried and none are convicted; bribery is
common.
When we have rescued kids and filed charges
against bar operators or sex tourists, it takes up to three or four
years to hear the case because the prosecutors delay proceedings and
the accused are free to continue abusing children. Barry Edwards, a
British professor, is on trial in Angeles City for three years with
no end in sight. Likewise, Australian bar operator Terrence
Matthews. The prosecutors just delay action and the child witnesses
give up. If she fails to appear, the case is dismissed. Most
frequently, the parents are paid off. Other suspects are allowed to
flee, after paying off the officials.
Child prostitution and sex slavery, both
illegal, are lucrative businesses that the big politicians do not
want to end. When foreign sex tourists are done abusing and raping
our children, like Josef Fritzl, they go home ravenous for child sex
and continue there even with their own daughters. Humans, the
species with intelligence, only do it to their own kids. Even frogs
don’t do that.
The government has to be held accountable. Last
2007 we discovered two girls, 13 and 14 years old, being trafficked
to Iba, Zambales, and turned into child prostitutes in the SkyLine
sex bar. The NBI anti-trafficking group waited ten days, failed to
respond in time. The sex-bar owner, a police officer, disappeared
with the children before the group arrived. Now we know why the
trafficking of children and child prostitution thrives with impunity
and why we need international awareness and action to stop it
everywhere.
preda@info.com.ph
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