African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic STD's ... - Blackherbals.com

African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic
Volume 6, Issue 10 NEWSLETTER October 2011
FEATURED ARTICLES
Children with Sexually Transmitted Diseases
By Lawrence W. Daly
September 13, 2011
Are children being exposed to sexually transmitted
disease with all of the education and prevention
which is being taught in schools and the media Do
children believe that having sex without protection is
the way to go With online dating and sexual
experiences from connecting with others exposing
children to greater risk All of these questions need
to be examined and evaluated and the statistics may
help tell the story.
To understand what the status of sexually transmitted
diseases (STDs) actually is, you must understand
how STDs and child abuse go hand in hand. Law
enforcement’s method and techniques of
investigating child sexual abuse allegations can be
difficult. Children who allegedly have been abused
may be reluctant or lack the ability to communicate,
i.e. due to age or mental disabilities makes the
process slow and complicated.
The effects of child abuse range from extreme
emotional problems to vaginal tearing to STDs and
have to be dealt with at many levels. These findings
by those in the sexual abuse networks can be difficult
to manage, not only for the child, but the nonoffending
authority figure, and the professionals who
are responsible to take care of a child who is
emotionally abused or contracts STDs.
Although it is a travesty that a child contracts STDs,
the disease may be traceable back to the sexual
offender. Several decades ago, the STDs which
dominated children being exposed to STDs were
gonorrhea and syphilis. The past decade gonorrhea
and syphilis have become overshadowed by
Chlamydia Trachomatis (chlamydia), human
papilloma virus (HPV), bacterial vaginosis (BV), and
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (U.S.
Department of Justice).
Law enforcement must have the knowledge on how
to handle a situation where a child victim that they are
investigating allegations of sexual abuse and has
contracted one of the above diseases needs to know
what to do with these medical findings. Recently
laboratories, which were minimal in numbers has now
become a booming business. Law enforcement
agencies should establish a relationship with one of
these laboratories so when they have a positive finding
of one of the above diseases they understand the value
of the evidence, the investigative process and etc.
If the child victim has identified her father as the
alleged sexual offender who she contracted STDs from,
law enforcement can move the court to issue a search
warrant for the father’s blood. The blood which will
carry the disease can be compared to the findings of the
child victim. If the results are positive then law
enforcement can obtain an arrest warrant or based on
probable cause arrest the father. The interrogation of
the father would be quick and to the point. The
scientific methods and techniques that the laboratories
utilize, if procedures, protocols and processes are
followed bring credibility to the child victim’s
disclosures about what the sexual offender did sexually
to her.
The U.S. Department of Justice in their preparation of
the manual, “Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Child
Sexual Abuse, December, 2002” states there are several
accurate information about STD’s in victims of sexual
abuse, that has been hindered by a variety of factors.
These factors are as follows:
The prevalence of sexually transmitted
infections may vary regionally and among
different populations within the same region.
• Few studies have attempted to differentiate
between infections existing prior to sexual
abuse and those that result from abuse.
Continued on page 29
-28- Traditional African Clinic October 2011