The occurrence of rape in the Virgin Islands is so common as to evoke a numbness in response by the public. Passage by the Legislature of the Child Protection Act of 2001 on Jan. 31 is certainly a step in the right direction, but without vigorous enforcement it, too, will stand as another wonderful law – in writing only. We have enough of these. Given the nature and frequency of the problem, this is the last thing we need.
We have a wonderful domestic violence law on the books. After years and years of efforts to train police and prosecutors and sensitize judges to the importance of prosecuting this law, results are marginal and inconsistent at best. Deeply held attitudes about men's rights with respect to women and children do not change with the passage of a law.
Recently, a man, in the context of a psychotherapy session, expressed incredulity that rape could be charged in the context of marriage. "How could that be?" he queried. "Easily," I replied, establishing the requisite conditions. Still, he was shaking his head and muttering that there was something wrong with a place that could interfere with relations between husband and wife, or parent and child.
Attitudes like these will not change with the passage of a law. They will not change as long as advocates are the only persons speaking out against these atrocities. We need leadership from the top down as well as from the bottom up. We need leadership from local men, from victims, and from women and children. It is time for victims to come forward, as one did at the last hearing of the Youth and Human Services Committee chaired by Sen. Vargrave Richards, and share their experiences, their anguish and the effect abuse has had upon their lives with us all. Perhaps if the public understood the depth and breath of devastation wrought by such abuse, attitudes might begin to alter.
As front-line professionals, we become aware of cases of child sexual assault which have not been prosecuted for any of several reasons: the prominence of the perpetrator, the lack of commitment and/or vigor on the part of the prosecutor, personal rather than professional responses on the part of "professional" persons …
It seems to me that the passage of this bill is an important first step, but only a first step. Compromises were made to achieve its passage that I feel were most unfortunate. Age-gap legislation represents a huge improvement over no legislation, but it still leaves youth under 18 at risk. Because "government is the art of compromise," many of us are not interested in elected office! Certain issues ought not be compromised.
A dozen arrests with no convictions to date
When the history of an alleged rapist on St. Croix was examined, 12 previous charges of various sorts were identified:
July 1996 — arrested for attempted murder, attempted robbery, assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence; charges dismissed without prejudice September 1996.
July 1997 — arrested for kidnap for rape, kidnap for ransom and second-degree robbery; charges later changed to kidnap for rape and first-degree rape; charges dismissed without prejudice September 1997.
November 1997 — arrested for operating a vehicle without a license; no complaint filed.
April 1998 — arrested for aggravated assault and battery; charges dismissed without prejudice February 1999.
September 1998 — charged with aggravated assault; case dismissed without prejudice June 1999.
November 1998 — arrested for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute; pled guilty to lesser offense of simple possession; placed on one year probation March 1999.
February 1999 (prior to being placed on probation) — arrested for kidnapping; charges dismissed in April 1999.
February 2000 — arrested for aggravated assault and battery; case dismissed without prejudice August 2000.
April 2000 — arrested for contempt of court; statement of no prosecution filed October 2000.
May 2000 — arrested for first-degree robbery; statement of no prosecution filed June 2000.
December 2001 — arrested and charged with reckless endangerment involving a firearm; case pending.
January 2002 — arrested for aggravated rape, first-degree burglary, unauthorized use of a vehicle, unauthorized possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence; two counts of second-degree robbery in connection with a Dec. 11, 2001, incident; case pending.
The question of how this can have happened must be asked, and the answers must be honest, thorough and coming from a place of desire to grow and do better in the future. The goal is not to blame, but to understand that we can and must never allow this to happen again.
More committed prosecutors needed
Our attorney general is often extremely defensive about the functioning of his office. This is not a problem which began with his appointment. Many of us are aware of assistant attorneys general who are of the highest caliber. They are to be lauded and appreciated utterly. Many of us also are aware of some assistant attorneys general who do not function well, and some who barely function at all. These must be rooted our and invited to leave, to make room for those more committed to vigorous prosecution of crimes. If necessary, an all-out campaign to bring such prosecutors here must be initiated. Such an attempt would be supported and praised by the advocacy community.
The question is frequently asked, "Why do we have so much domestic abuse in the Virgin Islands?" The unequivocal response is, "Because the consequences are so few, so infrequent and so inconsistent." The same answer applies to why we have such an epidemic of child abuse, and child and adult sexual assault. The fear remains that such behaviors will continue until the consequences for them are immediate: arrest, vigorous prosecution, timely trials, substantive sentencing (without plea bargaining which omits the victim) and time served.
Because of a long history of sporadic and inconsistent attention to these matters, we have inadvertently taught the general public that they can engage in these behaviors with minimal risk of severe consequences. Until and unless we demonstrate consistent, vigorous prosecution, consistent punishment, and consistent treatment for victims and perpetrators, the best of legislation will not alter abusive behavior. A principle of education is to reinforce positive behavior while having consistent consequences to extinguish negative behavior. We have, to date, seldom employed this principle here in the Virgin Islands.
We have much work yet to do. There is no place in this war for inflated egos or battles over turf. This work must be done in the spirit of cooperation, commitment and caring if the Virgin Islands is to grow to be the idyllic, safe place we all wish it to be and which it has the potential to become.
Editor's note: Dr. Iris Kern is executive director of The Safety Zone on St. John, which provides emergency intervention, counseling and shelter to victims of domestic violence and other crime.
We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.
