Rape, incest, pedophilia are ingrained in our culture

Dear Editor,

Bahamians have been numb to the news that young “Bella” has been taken advantage of. They became more enraged when they further discovered that the child was beaten to a pulp and that the recent bruises were on top of bruises that previously happened and also not reported.

She was tortured!

Cries came from every quarter; activists took to the megaphone to shout out their utter disgust. A crescendo of outrage came from every stratum of society.

The Bahamas has been a country where child abuse and incest have been practiced since time immemorial. There are many families where the father, a senior male member, cousins, and even some mothers sampled their innocent infants and young children while too many of us kept quiet.

No gender is spared, and no age, either. Mothers condoned it with the excuse that the breadwinner could not go to jail. Many mothers are guilty by commission or omission!

This primitive behavior has been happening so long until some families think it is the norm. Therefore, no authorities were alerted because, to the family members, no crime was committed.

Incest, pedophilia, and rape are prevalent in most Family Islands. There are some families where the mental state signaled that intermarrying has produced mentally challenged children. But no one raises the alarm because they want it to remain the family secret, much to the chagrin of the innocent child, whose trust we have betrayed.

We have failed to protect our innocent and impressionable children!

In the absence of naming anyone, prominent families are most familiar with these unusual and strange behaviors.

So, yes, the recent events with the precious darling have startled us all, and the brutality associated with it is disheartening, but Bahamians, those who could muster the courage, must admit that these practices are still happening in our families today.

We must do ourselves a favor to the memory of Bella; come out from the darkness of our culture, and expose all the people who still practice this hideousness. The hypocritical performances are sickening.

Let me hasten to say, this monster exists in all families from all socioeconomic strata of our society.

Until we gather the guts to shout out the pain that too many of us have been made to endure, the country cannot and will never heal from the wickedness that has, unfortunately, been ingrained in our history for centuries.

I speak for the voiceless and helpless!

— Ivoine Ingraham

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