Voices of rapists and paedophiles
Thalefang Charles | Friday May 13, 2016 15:30
“Super hot skin, Ma14, wena wa re ke eng re ba isa lapeng,” rapper Zeus said in his popular hit ‘Imagination’. We all danced to it and never really paused and sought to understand why grown old men prey on these young girls.
Why do men engage in inter-generational sex? Why do they like ma14 so bad? Some men say they choose to have sex with young girls because they believe they are ‘clean’ from sexually transmitted diseases. Others do it for need for variety and entertainment. They say they enjoy sex with various girls, especially young women for their carefree innocence.
Some men actually blame these young girls and claim they are victims of these young women’s seductions. “She wanted it,” they say. They claim that they were only responding to a sexual challenge and because of social expectation they had to sleep with these ‘forward’ young girls or else they would be viewed at as inadequate.
Others say they do it with the hope of spicing up their sex life by using inexperienced partners. It is for their own fetish sexual rejuvenation. Some men say they prefer sex with young girls because of the “tightness of their sexual parts”.
They say grown up women cannot satisfy them because they are “loose down there”.
They cry saying they are not well endowed enough to chase their age mates because “they do not feel anything”. Some men say they do it out of love. They believe they love them and having sex with underage girls is actually ‘making love’.
All these selfish perverted beliefs are fuelled by a society that condones these intergenerational relationships. There are no strict taboos against men sleeping with young girls. As a matter of fact songs are sung about this and radio stations promote them. Some men believe in transactional sex. To them the young girls are selling themselves and the mode of payment is sex. They believe their Guaranas and airtime are currencies for sexual service.
What can be done if men think like that?
Desmond Lunga from Men & Boys For Gender Equality has a few answers.
“All men in Botswana must stand up and be part of the solution in ending Gender Based Violence against women and children. One man can be the solution we need if he reaches out to their own friend and brother to end these violations.”
“The problem is further exacerbated by poverty and the economic hardships that families find themselves in, especially in the rural areas. These economic hardships render our children vulnerable and prone to the abuse and exploitation of older men and women who usually entice them with material things.”
Lunga says these dirty old men prey on young girls in communities where women are generally economically disadvantaged. He further urges government to act swiftly to end cases of abuse by ensuring that the existing laws, procedures and systems are used to protect the interests of the girl-child.