By: Fatou Camara Junior
The fact that a father can look at his own biological daughter in the eye and rape her should be enough to tell every mother that your daughters are not safe, not at home, and certainly not in the streets.
Today, I want to talk to parents, especially mothers with teenage daughters. The holiday season is fast approaching. Schools will soon close, and that is the time when children are allowed to go out, to Sunday beaches, birthday parties, or even to watch football at the parks.
Please, I beg you, do not entrust your daughters to the streets during this period. Too many sick people are walking among us. I wish I could say it’s only men, but sadly, I can’t. We are now seeing a wave of people, both men and women, who prey on teenage girls.
Why teenage girls? Because the mind of a teenage girl, particularly one that has no guidance, is easy to influence and manipulate. Even science has proven this.
Every holiday season, different kinds of people visit The Gambia. Each comes with their own unique reasons. While the majority are good, others are dangerously destructive, and not just the visitors, but even those among us at home who take advantage of the holiday season.
This is the time when parents tend to relax a little and allow their children to go out with friends and have fun, and that’s exactly when predators strike.
As a mother, learn to be comfortable having real conversations with your children, from the moment they can recognise your face. Sit with them, talk to them, guide them. Because if you don’t teach them, the streets will.
And please, stop giving your baby girls to men to carry or “play with.” It’s one of the most dangerous things you can do as a mother.
If you ever walk into some orphanages in The Gambia, you’ll understand what pain truly looks like. You’ll see little girls, innocent, broken, and silenced, their lives shattered by rape. It’s impossible not to cry.
And then you can’t help but ask yourself, how could a mother be so careless? How could anyone be so trusting that their own daughter ends up carrying such deep pain and shame, and just do nothing about it?
By: Fatou Camara Junior The fact that a father can look at his own biological daughter in the eye and rape her should be enough to tell every mother that your daughters are not safe, not at home, and certainly not in the streets. Today, I want to talk to parents, especially mothers with teenage The Fatu Network
