The recent arrest of a Norwegian national in Brufut by the police for his alleged involvement in homosexual activities is, indeed, a good move.
Child abuse of any kind is a cause for concern to everyone, and strangers should not take advantage of the hospitality accorded to them by Gambians to abuse our children sexually.
In as much as The Gambia wants to welcome tourists in the country, we want to see responsible tourists who would enjoy their stay in the country, and visit our nice beaches, instead of abusing our children in any form.
Some of them will come to the country as tourists, and engage themselves in acts of paedophilia, which is against the laws of the county.
The protection and welfare of our children should be everyone’s responsibility.
It is equally the responsibility of parents to protect their children, and to beware of people who want to befriend their children, and be using money and gifts to entice them, with in some instances even pretending to be their pen friends.
Sometimes, even when parents are aware of such acts happening, they are reluctant to report the matter to the police, and this is not helping the situation.
It is high time we put a stop to this culture of silence, as it is not helping us at all.
People should be vigilant enough to report such matters.
The Child Protection Alliance has done a lot of sensitization in this area, and has conducted many training sessions for the security and other stakeholders to enable them to handle such cases.
We would like to commend the security for being vigilant enough to handle such cases.
