Youths sexually abusing youths at correctional facilities

Concern is growing over the number of reports that youths at correctional institutions for boys and girls are allegedly being abused by older youths within the schools. Allegations of sexual abuse from prison officers on youths at the Youth Training Centre (YTC) could be a reality and may never be totally known until victims speak out, officials said. They disclosed, however, that there is a high number of run-away youths from these correctional homes. Officials said the problem has become so huge over the years that authorities just don’t know how to handle it.

Sunday Newsday was told that currently, the problem happens in cycles. But whether or not it happens in cycles, sources said it is a problem, nevertheless — a problem which still occurs behind closed doors without the knowledge of the officials at the institutions. It is, moreover, a problem that must be stopped. About two weeks ago, Commissioner of Prisons Carlo McHoney dismissed claims by a prison inmate that he was being sexually abused by prison officers. A former YTC inmate subsequently told Newsday that abuse at the hands of prison officers was very real. McHoney said while the possibility existed that inmates sexually abuse each other, there had never been reports of officers abusing inmates. This is disputed by prisoners. The inmate said while he himself did not fall prey to sexual abuse by the prison officers, a friend at YTC confided in him that the prison officers had sex with him on a regular basis and they bought his silence with money.

Following an investigation to find out more about sexual abuse in prisons, Sunday Newsday was informed that another major problem was youths sexually abusing other youths at correctional institutions. One official went as far as to describe the problem as “bigger than one can possibly imagine.” Sources said youths who end up at these correctional facilities often have to put up with being sexually molested and/or raped by the maturer ones who had been there for some time. A former YTC inmate told Sunday Newsday that he had seen and heard of these instances. He said most of the cases were on a voluntary basis in which no one was forced to participate in the acts. However, Clinical/Forensic Psychologist, Dr Stanley Bishop, who had previously worked at both institutions, argued that whether or not the younger ones voluntarily took part in the acts, it is still a “vicious” cycle.

He said the sexual behaviour of the boys as well as the girls, appears to be beyond the control of the institutions, which claim that nothing could be done. He pointed out the fact that the boys are underage and are involved in sexual activities with the older boys, which means that it is against the law. Dr Bishop explained that when the younger ones get older, they in turn become abusers and that is how the “vicious” cycle continues. He said such behaviour is the by-product of inappropriate sexual gesturing and is a symptom of internal rage.

 
Tackling the problem

It’s not just male youths abusing youths — the problem is also occurring at a correctional school for girls in which the maturer girls abuse the younger ones. One source said: “That is a norm there. That is why so many young girls run away and end up on the streets.” A former employer at the school told Sunday Newsday there were at least six cases a year in which this happened. An official at the institution could only say: “We have tried our best to help the children, there is nothing more we can do.” A worker said while she herself  had not seen any incidents, she’s heard of many instances in which this has happened.

“There is a lot of talk about it, but the boys aren’t talking out because they are too frightened to talk,” he said. St Michael’s Home for Boys Manager, Allison Salandy, agreed it was something that occurred in “cycles.” She insisted that it did not happen all the time and was not a continuing story. “It happens, yes, but it happens in cycles when there is the occasional group of young men who might be found in the situation. However, when they are discovered, we usually have an able and competent counsellor who deals with the situation,” she said. “But it is not a problem with us right now,” Salandy insisted. Dr Bishop denied that it was cyclical, saying that while he was employed there, the problem occurred on a regular basis. He said if the authorities had trained and qualified psychologists at the institutions to deal with the boys’ and girls’ sexuality issues, they would not be still having that problem.

A top official from one of the homes for children blamed Government for not having the foresight to deal with the ills of society as we have now in TT. She lamented that there were not enough trained children psychologists to deal with the seriousness of the situation, pointing out that the few who were very qualified, even became frustrated with the situation. An influential youth organisation also said: “We have heard about these things going on in these facilities and we have heard about it on more than one occasion. As a body representing the youths of the nation, we are very concerned about the situation.”

 
It’s all about ‘rank’

Dr Stanley Bishop said the behaviour, although institutionalised, is being exhibited for “rank.” “Who’s in charge, the boys, like the girls, who seem to have more sexual attacks through other inmates, get the highest rank,” he said. Clinically, the inappropriate sexual behaviour is reversible by means of professional and analytical counselling on an ongoing basis, the psychologist said. A student at a correctional institute agreed. He said: “By having sex with the younger boys they feel like an adult, it makes them feel like a man.”

A former student told Sunday Newsday that if the younger boys did not give in to the sexual demands of the older youths, they would be victimised, either being beaten up or verbally abused. An official from the group, “Vision on a Mission,” said in his dealings with people who passed through the system, told him that the abusive boys would take advantage of the younger ones by manipulating them through their basic needs. “They go in with very few necessities, so the boys will try to manipulate and woo them with what they need,” he said. Another source said the boys would grab the younger ones, beat them up, terrorise and intimidate them by taking their belongings as a way to get them. Dr Bishop said a lot of the boys who end up in the institutions, were youths who had been molested or physically abused at home and take out their pain and anger in the institutions.

Sex abuse rampant

Other places acting as havens for homeless children agreed that the problem of sex abuse, not just in the correctional facilities but throughout TT, is a major concern. As an official from Rainbow Rescue said: “The problem of sexual abuse is rampant and it is sad and very frightening. TT is going to hell on a skateboard with no one to pull the brakes. ” She explained that the reason why youths were sexually abusing each other was because this was what they were learning from their parents.

“A large percentage of parents in TT are abusing their children. They fail to realise that when they do this, they hurt the child emotionally and mentally. When they grow up into adulthood, that part of their childhood is not healed and they become angry and hurtful people,” she said. “That is why we have so much crime today, because many of the youths and even adults, suffered from sexual abuse and are now lashing out at society. Men who are now misbehaving, are the products of the hurt child which never healed.”