Since September 12, a similar search in Slovak would return a very different story, one that would make your heart sink. The evidence that the media were able to uncover in the following five days suggests that the management of the institution, as well as even higher-ranking public officials, had been aware of the allegations for months but had failed to take any action to prevent sexual abuse from happening again.
For now, the story is still far from clear and the prospects of it being clarified further are doubtful ; there are too many questions that we have been asking but to which we receive no satisfactory response.
And if so, why did her mother opt to confine her to a facility with a harsh regime for many months? Clearly, every publicised case of sexual abuse is a highly sensitive issue and there have been cases in which such allegations turned out to be revenge-driven or simply unfounded.
But before we start asking those questions, let us note that blaming the victim is the unacceptable but still the most likely initial reaction of many Slovaks to allegations of rape or abuse. And before we start questioning the motivation of the individuals involved in the case, which has unfortunately become a political issue over the past week, we should stop and take note of the known facts:.
The law clearly defines sexual intercourse with a minor under 15 years of age as a crime. The age limit is set at 18 when it concerns persons who are clients of this kind of facility. There is the facility in question, which is financed using public money and was aware of these allegations for months before they became public. There is the state, which apparently pays little or no attention to how people employed using public funds treat the individuals that are placed in their care.
