Rape and sexual abuse of girls under 16 has reached record levels, according to women’s groups, and is directly responsible for soaring rates of HIV infection among young girls.

“The prevalence of sexual abuse is staggering. It has reached epidemic proportions,” said Hilary Nicholson of Women’s Media Watch. “And this is reflected in the fact that rates of HIV infection for girls are much higher than boys, which is very unusual in global terms.”

The latest survey of the government’s National AIDS committee also shows that sexual abuse of girls is increasing. And, according to Dr Robert Carr, executive director of Jamaica AIDS Support, there has been an “alarming increase in infection cases among young girls who are now between three and six times more likely to be infected by HIV than their male counterparts”.

The Ministry of Health, in its latest report, directly attributes this to “young girls having sexual relations with HIV-infected older men”.

Government figures show that far more boys are born with AIDS. So, in children under 10, there are more male cases than female. However, from the age of 10, female AIDS cases climb sharply. Girls aged 10-14 are twice as likely as boys the same age to have AIDS; and girls between 15 and 19 are three times more likely to have AIDS.

As AIDS – the final stage of the HIV infection – takes around five years to develop, this suggests that girls as young as five are having sex with HIV-infected men.

And according to Ionie Whorms, who runs an organisation working with young girls in inner-city communities, this situation has recently got worse.

“There has been an increase in assaults on girls under 12, of cases where they are kidnapped and raped,” she said. “Because most men still believe in the myth that having sex with a virgin will cure a sexually-transmitted disease, they either do this forcefully or by paying them for sex. Then, of course, they infect the young girl without her knowing it and she later passes it on to other people.”

Minister for sport and local government, Portia Simpson Miller, agreed. Speaking to Sunday Observer at the funeral of the three young sisters from Rema who were shot dead just after the October 16 general elections, she said: “These murders were a particularly shocking case, but there is a serious attack against young girls and women going on in this country – much of which is not reported by the media or broadcast.”

The head of the police Rape Unit, Deputy Superintendent Nolan Willer, stressed that official figures for reported carnal abuse – sex with a girl under 16 – were falling. But, she said, it was still a serious problem “as so many of our young children are being abused”. She also attributed this to the belief that you could “cure” STDs by sleeping with a young girl, adding that some of the men who committed these crimes were as old as 65.

However, women’s groups say the vast majority of rapes are not reported, particularly in cases of incest or in inner-city areas where girls are threatened – or worse – to keep them quiet.

“A lot of sexual assaults are not reported but we can safely say the incidence, per capita, is very, very high,” said Carole Narcisse of Women for Transformation of Women. “In most inner-city communities, as soon as a girl reaches puberty, she is sent for by any man who wants to have sex with her, starting with the Don,” she added.

Nicholson agreed, saying that in many communities the Don had taken on the role of “master of the plantation” and could have access to any woman or girl he wanted. Some mothers, she added , even encouraged this by sending their daughters to the Don in return for money or other favours.

Mothers also took money from men who had raped their daughters, she said, in exchange for their silence, or continued to take money as the rapist was a friend, acquaintance or relative.

“It is difficult for a woman to turn in their spouse or supporter to the police and turn them into a criminal,” she said. “But as you can imagine this has a disastrous effect on the girl, whose self-esteem totally disappears.”

This was particularly the case with incest, said Narcisse. “In many cases, fathers will have sex with their daughters because they think they are entitled to do it; they see them as a prize that they should have before anyone else.”

Psychologist Veronica Salter, who helps child rape victims, said there may even be a link between Jamaica’s high rate of teenage pregnancy and levels of sexual abuse.

“Early sexual abuse leads to promiscuous behaviour and bad relations with men,” she said, “which could definitely cause an increase in teenage pregnancies.”

However, all the groups agree that rape, particularly in inner-city areas, often has nothing to do with sex: “Rape is often used as a straight-up act of terror to control whole communities,” said Narcisse. “The rapists are saying ‘we are making an example of you, so the rest of the community stays in line’.”

Teenage boys, added Nicholson, were sometimes forced to rape and murder local girls as part of their “initiation rites” into a gang. While gang rapes, she said, were used to show women who resisted men’s sexual advances “that they did not have authority over their own bodies”.

Both Narcisse and Nicholson stressed that rape was also used to terrorise and emasculate men by attacking “their” women.

Despite the gloomy picture, there are some glimmers of hope:

“Rapists do not always escape punishment,” said Narcisse. “There is an informal justice system in place in communities where rape is not accepted. So although the girl may not report it to the police, she may report it to other people in the community. Some men are even killed if they rape.”

Women’s groups hope that a new coalition formed earlier this year will help tackle the issue of sexual violence against women.

“We have to tackle issues such as the de-humanisation of men in many inner-cities and the complete breakdown of the family which will take time,” said Nicholson.

“This is not just one large horror story that’s being ignored,” said Dr Carr. “The Children’s Services Division is taking steps to address the vulnerability of children and schools are trying to address the problem by promoting abstention from sex and delaying girls’ initiation into sex.”

“Education is crucial,” said Deputy Superintendent Willer. “Of children and adults. That’s the only way we will get rid of these dangerous myths that you can “cure” AIDS by sleeping with young girls.”