OPINION: Panama’s appalling rate of sexual violence

The figures for sexual violence – so far this year – are simply alarming. The decomposition of Panamanian society causes deep concern, in which minors bear the brunt, even victims of pornography, not to mention the abuse to which they are subjected by adults, with whom, in many cases, they have some kind of family relationship. It is urgent that families do their part to limit this rampage and, on the part of the authorities, greater attention is required to this type of crime, but, above all, prevention, in which the participation of the family is essential. Many of these crimes are committed, precisely, within them, in the depths of home intimacy. This year alone, some 5,389 sexual crimes have been recorded in Panama, making it one of the most frequent. And those are only those cases that are reported to the authorities. Not even migrants are saved from this savagery, perpetrated in one of the wildest areas of the continent: the Darien jungle. That is why it is necessary not only to prevent but to lock these subjects up for as long as possible. Neither society nor should the Government should continue with their arms crossed. – LA PRENSA, Nov. 26.