I was wondering how judges seem to pass sentences o each criminal offender esp to ones of sexual origins.
In saying so, I believe the problem of sexual abuse usually happens to those who were victims of or having troubles related to these crimes in their earlier years.
Personally, and in my own individual opinio, I think sex offenders should be given a chance to explain how they were sexually assaulted in the first incident. And if the sex maniac happens to be alive should also be brought to justice and dealt the same thing and so forth until they can find out the actual root of the offence. And if the person who did this initially has already died only then the court can determine how harsh the latest offender would be punished.
It is a bit complicated indeed but the sure thing is, there is always a reason behind our behaviours and attitudes

I tend to disagree with the common excuse used world wide for sexual abusers, that they were victims themselves. It may just be me....but the only time I hear this is from the defence lawyers in a court case so their agenda is to get the accused off the charge or minimise the sentence...Not justice! If one would believe such a theory then current victims of sexual abuse should be monitored, labelled as possible future offenders and treated as a perpetrator of sexual abuse! I don't think that will go down too well!!

The other side of this debate is that If an offender uses the noiton that he/she was a victim and claims to have been traumatised and negatively affected then this should be a means for the offence not to occur because there will be some understanding, empathy and awareness. But this is not the case aye?

At the end of the day one chooses to act out his or her sexual motives for the objective of pleasure...isn't that the short of it? They should be treated as such and for the victims sake given a sentence that fits the crime!.......Until offenders are willing to seek help and change their perverted ways will any attempt be sucessful and that's the short of it!

Imagine a court case where the offender is sentenced to counselling and government assistance while the victim suffers a life sentence. Think about it!

We must start to face up to an idea that I believe is true: that Samoa is a dangerous place for children to grow up, primarily because the sexual abuse is so rampant. Those of us that have lived in Samoa know that young girls are routinely abused, usually by family members (cousins, uncles, even fathers). This is never adressed and never talked about but everyone knows it happens. I've often felt that Samoa is producing generations of women in which the majority have had some experience with sexual abuse. And also generations of men that have been taught that there are no consequences for these actions. When will this end? Part of the reason may be that Samoan culture teaches us to repress our feelings, it is also very difficult for a young man or women to find a mate without facing the ridicule and jealosy, repercussions from others in his village. Young men (and women) have sexual needs and if society does not allow these needs to be met then men may resort to violence and preying upon those that cannot reject them or are too scared to speak up. Maybe this is why there is so much forced sexual activity.... men and women are never taught to relate to eachother in a healthy way. I would never allow my daughters to grow up in Samoa, however much I love it there... they are not even safe in the schools.... even male teachers will abuse their female students without repercussions. I'm sorry if these kind of comments upset people but somebody needs to start speking up clearly and forcibly about these issues. You may not like to hear it, but you know its true, don't you?

I seriously think the church ministers should lead the way here. They are the de-facto social workers in our villages. They are usually the first person that victims (and offenders) go to when something goes wrong.

They should start teaching "how do deal with sexual incidents in my church" at Malua, Piula, Moamoa, Kanana Fou, and wherever else they teach the future ministers and priests of our country.

Ministers should start preaching directly about these things. Make it known to people that sexual abuse is not something to be swept under the family carpet to be dealt with "in-house". The churches should forge stronger links with the NGOs who deal with this type of stuff - Mapusaga o le Aiga etc.

Why do I put this onto ministers? Well, because there are so many bloody churches in our country and so many faifeaus that we might as well use them as a resource for dealing with these problems. They ARE the social workers of our villages. They need to extend their social work to include matters which are publicly hard for Samoans to talk about. Our theological colleges should prepare our ministers accordingly. Samoa DOES have a sexual abuse problem. The best way to deal with it at the grassroots level is through the churches.

I think this issue is avoided here in Samoa. People don't want to admit that sexual abuse is rife and we tend 'sweep it under the mat' and think it is just few sick people committing them. Well, every month we see more and more very young children being abused, molested and raped. It makes me cringe with disgust and shame that some of us Samoans are capable of such acts. I have many theories on why this is becoming a common crime here and I think sexual repression is one of them. I don't want to rant on about that so I'll end it here.

I totally agree with Faiumu the Church and theological colleges in Samoa need to adress these issues and train their men and women accordingly. Was Margret Mead right about Samoans? The way she descrbed us was offensive to many but now its becoming more and more evident that her words maybe true.
Its a shame that this is happening to our young people. The cycle has to stop root causes also need to be identified and counseling applied. Im all for the church to step up to these problems they are the social workers of the villages as mentioned by Faiumu. Take the ministry out into the comminuties into the homes and villages Jesus never sat in the temples all day he went out into the world where the lost dying and spiritually dead were.

I advise this forum to table some researches done on this issue before we make bold statements as obvious above. As an observer, some of Samoa's social problems seem to be rested on two pillars which are "violent and lust". Studying the history of our country recorded by early white men that settled our shores as well as hearing stories that were handed down by our forefathers, violent and lust though had negative effects on society were looked upon as precious and adorable. A violent person was praised and a man that had many wives was looked up to. Unfortunately, in our days, the norms that christianity have introduced somehow forced unto people a certain kind of discipline which when envelops by being religious hides the poor unchanged heart. This christianity of conformity without a real transformation of the soul is indeed dangerous. It is dangerous enough in that it springs up now and then thus revealing the real condition of ones heart (soul). What is the answer then for our society? Someone already pointed out the fact that the pastors or spiritual leaders of the samoan societies should lead and may I add, they should make sure that they are not preaching a message of "outward conformity" but a message of "inner transformation". When people grasp the latter, then they are ready for the walk of discipline.

I agree with you folks on that. my father being a minister out in the U.S, we have to deal with a lot of different issues. But this problem of sexual abuse, is starting to become a norm for Samoa & i'm sooo upset with it because we all take pride in our country & the sad thing is, some people are actually considering the sexual abuse as a form of endearment. There are like so many first cousins, uncles marrying their nieces, why??? because to them in Samoa, it was OK....I dont' want that to happen... I want our people to be open-minded, but we all know that's tabu in our culture. Having a boyfriend is like forbidden. But i don't buy that sex offenders commit their crime because they were victims...but like the Samoan fella addressed; the sex offender who was also the victim at one time should sympathize with its own victim & know what it felt like, all the troublesome feelings & emotional scars they had... That's crap to me to use past trials. BULL!!! you know what you were doing, it's pure pleasure & nobody should sympathize with you!!!! It was your selfish act to please yourself & your damn hormones u know?? So the Samoa legal system needs to stiffen & harshen up their punishment or else sexual abuse will be a trend in our country & nobody will wanna come over.

The Churches really do need to get involved. I'm surprised because i know they've been on the suicidal issue for a while, and hellooo wouldn't this be a strong factor in why kids commit suicide??? But i just pray that faifeaus don't just sit in their mansions and collect their alofas all day. I hope tha their devoted church0going villagers are fed spiritually & fulfilled by their work. Faifeaus are a separate issue because times have changed, but there are those good ministers who DO know that their work is 24 hours all year long. It's not just Sundays...

OK, thank you very much.

If one chooses to commit these disgusting crimes against people regardless and I mean regardless, These people are acting out of their OWN PERSONAL CHOICE! This is a fact! We can't place responsibility on Religion(The irony regarding that suggestion as a solution, is that hostorically, thanks to recent changes in western society, religous leaders are 2nd on the list of sexual crimes against children just below family members!) We can't blame mum and dad and we can't blame the economy!

If one chosses to commit sexually deviant crimes.....then the law shoud be able to deal with this sought of offending appropriatly, Not culturally, not religiosly, not emotively but Appropriately within the law!!

Regards

Samoan Fella
Samoan Fella

There is a need for an inner transformation of the soul. You are right, some religious leaders are just as bad as the non religious but it all points to the same thing. One covers it well by being religious and still another not being religious is just as bad. The solution is an inner transformation together with discipline to make sure the person is not going back to some old habits. We can lock everyone up that commits sexual crimes but the question is, will the locking up alone does the job? I don't think so. The person that is being locked up should leave that prison having being transformed.

honululu,

what about an outer transformation of the soul? i think that should work too.

I think people would love to know more about what you just said.