Pastor Defiles 7 year Old Daughter: 4 Reasons Why Incest is Unreported

"The very nature of  incest is so abhorrent to much of the public and to many professionals who could play a significant role in realizing the goal of helping victims and survivors that they don’t want to believe it exists"-Margaret Ballantine and Lynne Soine, associate professor.

Incest is common and is not restricted to any country or culture. Many cases of sexual abuse, especially on a minor is perpetrated by those closet to them and meant to protect them. Victims often  suffer in silence due to many factors.The effect of abuse can have long term effects.

Incorporating heightened campaign to create awareness of  incest with proactive approaches to intervention by relevant government agencies and NGOs, media/social media , we can begin to combat this hidden social problem.

Victims can be helped to disclose their secrets earlier, leading to better treatment outcomes, and survivors can be helped to resolve mental health and behavioral problems. Psychologists and Social workers can be instrumental in uncovering sibling incest on both societal and individual levels.

Therefore, Parents, guardians  and neighbors need to report any suspicious cases to the nearest police station promptly because of the victims have been crippled emotional and cannot speak up.

How Pastor Defiles 7 year Old Daughter

An Ogbesun Chief Magistrates’ Court in Benin on Wednesday ordered the remand a 41-year-old Prophet, Benjamin Bernard, in prison custody for alleged defilement of his seven-year-old daughter. 

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Taiye Omoruyi, refused to admit the cleric to bail.

The Prosecutor, Kenneth Ugiagbe, said the pastor committed the incest against his third daughter on Jan. 26. Bernard pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge of defilement. Read Also; Psychological Impact of New Law on Sexual Abuse

The minor, led in evidence by Ugiagbe, told the court that after defiling her, Bernard used a white handkerchief to clean her private part. 

Related; Promise to Tell Now; Texas Father Sentenced to Life Imprisonment After Impregnating Daughter

She said her father warned her not to mention it to anyone else, threatened to kill her if she disclosed it to anybody.

The court adjourned the matter till March 16 for further hearing.

4 REASON WHY INCEST IS UNREPORTED

1. Failure to Recognize Abuse, Fear of Disclosure: Many children fail to identify themselves as victims of sibling incest. Older brothers or sisters may take advantage of the sexual naïveté of younger siblings to initially trick them into incestuous behaviors. Sexual behaviors are frequently couched in the context of play, and young victims are likely to find these activities pleasurable. The identification of themselves as victims is further compromised by the complex dynamics of the sibling relationship itself. A same-generation, “special,” affectionate relationship with the offender may be welcomed by a younger sibling in a family typically characterized as chaotic, dysfunctional, and relatively inattentive to that child’s needs.  
2. Abuse Obscured in Chaotic Families: Sibling sexual abuse victims often live in dysfunctional family environments that subtly foster incestuous behaviors and are not conducive to disclosing the secret. Sibling incest appears more likely to occur in large families characterized by physical and emotional violence, marital discord, explicit and implicit sexual tensions, and blurred intrafamilial boundaries. 
3. Emotionally and/or physically absent parents; may empower older siblings to assume parental roles. In short, these families are chaotic and unlikely to recognize the significance of behaviors occurring between siblings. If sexual behaviors are noticed, they are likely to be minimized and misinterpreted as a normal aspect of childhood development. Lack of adequate parental supervision provides perpetrators with ongoing opportunities to offend and protects the secret, leaving the victim vulnerable to continuing abuse (Asherman & Safier, 1990; Caffaro & Conn-Caffaro, 2005). 
4. Professional Failure to Identify Sibling Incest:While conducting comprehensive assessments of dysfunctional families, professionals are likely to focus on the more salient aspects of family dynamics, with only a superficial examination of sibling relationships. Similarly, when specific presenting problems are identified, professionals may not consider deeper exploration of sibling relationship dynamics as especially relevant. Because young sibling victims often appear free of trauma effects or other evidence of abuse and because they are likely to feel at least partially complicit with the behaviors, the indicators of sibling incest remain buried. 

My Recommendation
If you are/have ever been sexually molested by ANYBODY-even your family members/or relatives do not be afraid to REPORT that person to someone you can trust and it's NEVER too late. It is not your fault,and most importantly DO NOT ALLOW/her to go free.FREE yourself from psychological torture by first Confiding in a TRUSTED FRIEND. SPEAK UP NOW.

To request for help:
E-mail:
joyceanthonia@gmail.com
babystepspsychmag@gmail.com
vikkyjoks@yahoo.com
BBM PIN;73DC50E8

References

• The Wichita Eagle 
• The Oprah Winfrey Show — Margaret Ballantine, PhD, MSW, LCSW-R, is an assistant professor of social work at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Plattsburgh. 
• Lynne Soine, DSW, MSW, LMSW, is an associate professor and chair of the social work department at SUNY Plattsburgh.