illusions of childhood

A fifteen year old girl lies in a dark corner of a railway yard
passed out... from sniffing 'solution' the streetkid slang for industrial glue
and she is happily raped by about 15 people
males
aged between 12 and 19
.... many of who have been raped themselves
but who fail to recognise it as such...
I sit there as these boys of the railway station
share their intimate experiioences with me
...part of an HIV/AIDs prevention programme ...
they have gained my trust enough to open up about themselves...
first penetrative sexual experience at the age of seven? eight? ten?
usually as the one penetrated
... the harsh realities of life on the street...
and now I have to deal with the trauma
of having to find out what happened to the girl
as i tell them firmly and gently that any act of penetration
against a person's will is a croime... and must be punished...
and they smile sweetly and say...
oh but this girl was available anyway... so what does it matter if she was sleeping??
so i say... what does it matter if you are sleeping and somebody buggers you??
and they shrug...
no big deal... it happens all the time....

and hypocritical middle class, fundamentalist Indians
insist that Indians are not like that... they don't bugger, they aren't buggered, they never have sex outside their marriage...
but again... these midle class Indians
don't count these kids as human beings .....