By Dr. Noyo Anthonia Kubeyinje-Edem
To the extent that the governments of the third world countries neglect their people and allow poverty, ignorance and the violation of human rights to flourish amongst their citizens while these governments ignore their responsibilities to provide the basic needs of their people, there will always be problems associated with domestic violence, sex trade/prostitution and other societal vices that degrade human beings in third world countries.
I am a Nigerian and I can boldly say that most citizens of Nigeria are made to bear the heavy burden of poverty and governmental neglect of her citizens. The situation in Nigeria is quite identical with situations in other parts of Africa and it is sad that this has become an acceptable pattern of life in the third world countries where the government’s influence in enriching and stabilizing families is almost nonexistent. In most advanced countries, the governments collaborate with other non-governmental agencies to ensure that families provide safe, permanent and nurturing homes where their children’s basic needs will be met. Also the government intervenes to investigate allegations of child abuse and neglect thereby sending a clear message to the people that the law of the land will not tolerate any form of abuse and neglect of the most vulnerable members of its population.
In these advanced countries, the government spends a lot of money training personnel to work with families and implements a lot of services to address issues relating to anger management, domestic violence, substance abuse etc. This analysis shows that the governments of advanced countries realize the importance of the family in societal development; therefore the governments implement programs to enlighten and strengthen families in their countries.
The governments of the third countries on the other hand have not fully addressed the problems resulting from poverty which manifest its vices in domestic violence, sex trade, prostitution and other criminal activities. Therefore, the leaders of the third world countries have allowed their people to become victims of exploitation due to their reluctance to provide the basic social welfare services that people all over the world need and are entitled to receive from the governments of their countries.
Like responsible citizens in other countries of the world, the citizens of third world countries can also differentiate between the moral virtues of wrong and right. However, due to the hardship of poverty that families in third world countries endure, some families in these countries have allowed their women and girls to engage in sex trade believing that their women and daughters will provide the basic needs of their families from this disgraceful business.
Furthermore, incidents of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect may be more frequent in families of these countries because of arguments that erupt from the hardship placed on caregivers who are unable to provide the needs of their families. In domestic violence, the women and children suffer most in the family. The women and children are left with emotional, physical and mental scares that destroy their self-esteem and individuality. Consequently, they struggle to succeed without getting help from the government. Most women and children become fearful and timid and are unable to adapt to the challenges they face in life.
The morale of anyone in this situation is totally lowered due to the constant intimidation, abuse and neglect experienced in the hands of their spouses and other men in their communities. This problem is worsened by poverty, lack of education and almost a total lack of governmental support for families in third world countries.
We can no longer claim that families are not aware that their women and girls are being exploited in sex trade when they are sent abroad; that women and girls are being abused by their spouses and other men in the society; that little children are also being abused or neglected by their caregivers and other adults who have access to these innocent children; that most families are unable to provide the basic needs of their households; that universal primary education is far beyond the reach of many families in third world countries and where there is some form of free education, the infrastructure in those schools are barely adequate that children learn in deplorable conditions.
With the foregoing therefore, we need to find answers to the following questions in order to address the problems of poverty, lack of education, domestic violence and spousal abuse and other vices in our communities.
Why have the governments of these third world countries allowed their people to suffer? Why have they not paid attention to the needs of the most vulnerable population in their countries? Would enlightening and empowering this segment of the populace be beneficial to the countries? What is the role of law enforcement in enforcing the law in these societies? What new initiative can the government put in place to help her citizens?
It is a well-established fact that women contribute a lot to the socio-economic development of their nations but get very little in return in terms of manpower development. The governments of most third world countries have not successfully initiated and implemented programs that will benefit women in most third world countries. Women play an important role in raising up future generations and also in stabilizing and building the family. They also contribute a lot to the economy by working hard with their husbands on their farms and other cottage industries in remote parts of most third world countries. Because a lot of women have been exposed to Western education, so many women engage in gainful professions that enrich the economies and the lives of citizens of their countries.
Despite these contributions that women have made to the socio-economic development of their countries, it is sad to note that most women still do not have a strong voice in their homes, families and communities. We should also recognize the truth that domestic violence, child abuse and neglect and other societal vices do not only occur in poor homes. The tendency for the human mind to engage in criminality when not appropriately tamed by morality or a culture of traditional and religious norms and values can become high in both the rich and poor. Consequently, some educated women are also victims of domestic violence in most of the third world countries. We should not overlook recent studies that have shown that men can also be victims of domestic violence. Therefore, the governments of these countries should take the lead to enlighten their citizens about the negative impact of domestic violence on family life and how this can affect societal growth. No country will achieve its full potential as a developing country if hercitizens are being abused and maltreated.
Therefore, there is an urgent need for the governments of the third world countries to embark on an aggressive public enlightenment campaign aimed at changing the consciousness of our people. The campaign will make our people become aware of the vices of sex trade and what actually happens to our young girls and women in foreign countries. The campaign will appeal to families to uphold morality while they are being empowered to reject any solicitation to embrace sex trade; furthermore the campaign will also reveal the evil of domestic violence and how it affects the larger society. There must be a penalty for continuing to participate in these criminal activities in order to restore sanity and a sense of human dignity back to our communities. The penalty for breaking the law should be written down and included in the enlightenment campaign for the citizens to be aware of it.
Moreover, the role of the government in empowering its citizens should be clearly defined in the campaign along with the programs the government will embark on and how the people will benefit from the programs should be enumerated. In order to have an effective campaign, all facets of the economy will be included in this campaign. This means that the church, the families, NGO and other governmental agencies will support this campaign to ensure that it succeeds.
We all know that there is a problem, but as long as the government and the people do not think that the problem should be addressed then it will continue. We are here today to give a voice to these vices in our societies and to let the governmentsand peoples of our countries know that our women and girls need to be respected; they are human beings entitled to basic human rights; the governments of their countries have the obligation to empower these women and girls; to protect them and their families and provide basic services including skills training, rehabilitation, and education to keep the women and girls out of the streets and out of the hands of men and women that exploit them for their selfish gains.
Our women and girls are human beings and their human dignity must be preserved. What can we do to stop these vices that are destroying the family? We need everyone to say, “No” to the evil of sex trade, domestic violence and poverty.
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