Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Editorial: Something is wrong here
WHAT could have been an ordinary police story in the Visayan Sun.Star SuperBalita, which Sun.Star Davao has translated and carried in its own edition today, is ringing warning bells that the police and child rights advocates should take notice of.
It's your usual man hires woman-for-sex story, ending with the "woman" stealing from the man. The "woman" was arrested and she owned up to the crime. The two met up at the police station and everything was settled because the "woman" returned what she stole and sex-hungry out-of-towner is satisfied with just getting back his money.
No big deal, you might say. Except that, the "woman" here is a 15-year-old girl and the police seem not bat an eyelash as they allowed the man to walk out, happy that his money has been retrieved.
Granted, the girl did steal, therefore, she must face the consequence of that -- going to the police precinct and returning the money she stole is the first move and since the man says he's satisfied with just recovering his money, then that's the end of it.
What shouldn't have ended there is what the man should be facing up to?
Okay, the sex act wasn't consummated because the girl ran off with his wallet even before they could do something, or so the police report said. But, he hired a minor with the intent to have sex, isn't that something that police should look into as well?
Okay, the girl it appears is not new to selling her services on the streets as the man involved is an out-of-towner and thus may not be in the know about the more complicated sex for hire deals going on in the city, just maybe. Still, she is a minor. Shouldn't somebody be taking notice?
It's stories like these that give a stark image of how people can overlook the real crime committed because of the stigma attached to prostitution and girls on the streets.
